The George Mason baseball team couldn't hold on to
an early lead on Friday against William & Mary and the Patriots' late rally
wasn't enough as Mason fell to the Tribe, 8-5 in Colonial Athletic Association action
at Pulmeri Park in Williamsburg, Va.
Mason managed just four hits against Matt Davenport
and Brett Koehler but were helped by nine free passes as the two Tribe hurlers
walked five and hit four batters. But the Patriots left the bases loaded in the
sixth and were unable to do anything after putting the leadoff runners on in
the seventh as the Patriot fell to 9-9-1 on the year, 0-4 in the CAA. William
& Mary improved to 8-13, 3-4.
The Patriots struck first with a run in the first as
Chris Cook
was hit by a pitch, went to second on a wild pitch, took third on a
ground out and scored on a Shane Davis
sacrifice fly. In the second, Nick Allen
singled, Mick Folery was hit by a pitch and Danny Lyons
walked to load the
bases. Jeremy Haas
' infield single made it 2-0 and Cook added a sacrifice fly
for a three-run lead. In the fourth, the Tribe got on the board against Mason
starter Ryan Pfaeffle
as Jonathan Slattery singled, went to second on a
sacrifice bunt and scored on a two-out Ryan Lindemuth single.
In the fifth, William & Mary broke through with
five runs to knock Pfaeffle out of the game. Chris Forsten led off with a
single, took second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a Derrick Osteen single.
Stephen Arcure singled and Ryan William's two-out base hit made it 3-3. Tadd
Bower followed with a three-run homer to right to make it 6-3.
In the sixth, Mason trimmed the lead as Zack
Helgeson doubled, Blaise Fernandez
singled and Foley walked to load the bases.
Danny Lyons
' ground out made it 6-4 and after a walk to Haas, Cook was hit by a
pitch to make it 6-5. But Brig Tison
lined out to end the inning. Tison was 0
for 5 on the day having his 14-game hitting streak snapped. In the seventh, Davis
was hit by a pitch and Helgeson walked to end Davenport's outing but Koehler
came on to get two strikeouts and Davis was thrown out trying to advance on a
pitch in the dirt. Koehler retired the side in the eighth and ninth while the
Tribe added an insurance run in the eighth on a walk, wild pitch and single.
The Patriots and Tribe will continue its series
tomorrow when they face off at 4 p.m.
