On Saturday afternoon in Williamsburg, Va., the
George Mason baseball team played its third extra-inning road game in the past
six contests, and for the third time in as many tries, the Patriots were unable
to come away with a win as Mason fell at William & Mary, 2-1 in 11 innings.
The Patriots also played an extra-inning home game last Wednesday, coming away
with a tie, as the Patriots are now 9-10-1 on the year, 0-5 in the CAA. William
& Mary improved to 9-13, 4-4.
Mason starter Chris O'Grady
and William & Mary
starter Logan Billbrough were both dominant as were the two bullpens. O'Grady went
six innings allowing four hits and one walk while striking out seven.
Billbrough also went six innings allowing five hits and four walks with seven
strikeouts. Matt Wainman, Reid Killen and Brett Koehler combined to pitch five
scoreless innings allowing just three hits and two walks. Jake Kalish
went four
and one-third innings in relief, absorbing the loss after allowing five hits
and one walk while striking out two. Chris Cook
had three hits for Mason while
Nick Allen
added two hits and Danny Lyons
had the lone RBI. Tadd Bower had two
hits for the Tribe and scored the game-winning run.
Mason got on the board first when Allen doubled with
one out in the second, took third on a ground out and scored on Lyons' hit to
right. Mason had other chances in the game, but the Tribe made their pitches. In
the third and seventh, Cook singled to lead off the inning but both times Brig
Tison grounded into a double play. In the fourth, Mason opened the inning with
a Zack Helgeson
walk and Blaise Fernandez
followed with a single to put runners
on the corners, But Billbrough got two strikeouts and a ground out to end the
threat. In the fifth, Mason loaded the bases with two outs but Fernandez
grounded into a fielder's choice. In the sixth and eleventh, Mason had the
go-ahead run on second with one out and in the eighth, they had two on and two
out. The ninth-inning saw Cook trying to stretch a single into a double, only
to be thrown out.
The Patriot hurlers made their pitches as well. O'Grady
dealt with a runner on second and one out in the third and escaped without
damage. In the fourth, Jonathan Slattery singled, went to second on a Ryan
Williams single and after a Bower bunt, Slattery scored on a Ryan Lindemuth
ground out. In the fifth, O'Grady had runners on the corners but got a grounder
to erase the lead runner. Then, with the bases loaded, he struck out a pair of
batters swinging. He ended his day with five straight strikeouts, all swinging.
In the seventh, Kalish scatters a pair of hits and he also saw Shane Davis
throw the potential game-winning run out at the plate in the ninth, when
Forsten tried to score from first on a hit by Derrick Osteen.
In the eleventh, Kalish, who threw an impressive 57
pitches, ran out of steam. He gave up a leadoff hit to Bower, then was lifted
after a Lindemuth sacrifice bunt. T.J. O'Grady
came on and after an intentional
walk to pinch-hitter Buster Gean, Forsten singled to center to end the contest.
The Patriots and Tribe will conclude their series
tomorrow when they face off at 1 p.m.
