The Richmond Spiders scored three unearned runs in the top of the ninth to tie the George Mason baseball team, and when darkness fell after the 10^th inning, the Patriots were left with their first deadlocked contest since 2000, as Mason and Richmond ended the game knotted at 8-8.

Redshirt senior T.J. O'Grady was excellent in his first career start, allowing no earned runs and just two hits in four innings. Relievers Branden Bartlett , Jake Kalish , Brandon Kuter and Michael Bowie combined to allow no earned runs in four and one-third innings of work. Brig Tison was 3 for 6 to extend his hitting streak to 10 games while Nick Allen had three hits. Matt Zink had three hits for Richmond (4-8-2) as did Derek Boliek. The Patriots (9-4-1) committed five errors which led to five unearned runs in the game.

Richmond put the game's leadoff hitter on base when Mike Small reached on an error by shortstop Chris Cook . Small went to second on the error and scored with two outs on a single by Jacob Mayers. The Patriots got the run back in the bottom of the first as Cook was hit by a pitch, went to third on a Brig Tison single and scored on a Dan Schafferman sacrifice fly.

The Patriots used a Richmond error to take the lead in the third inning. Nick Allen doubled to lead things off and with one out, Allen took third on a Brig Tison 's grounder. Mayers made an error at third on the play which allowed Tison to reach and Allen then scored on a Schafferman ground out to make it 2-1.

The Spiders tied the score in the fifth when Matt Zink singled to lead off the inning against reliever Sean Cabrera , went to second on a sacrifice bunt, took third on a Derek Boliek single and scored on a Mike Mergenthaler sacrifice fly. In the sixth, Richmond took the lead when Robby Massar singled, went to second on a ground out and scored on a Zink single. Zink stole second and scored on a Mike Small single. Small went to third on the play on a fielding error by Schafferman in right and scored on a Boliek single.

But the Patriot got the runs back in the sixth. Zack Helgeson and Shane Davis walked and Blaise Fernandez reached on an infield single to load the bases. Jeremy Haas was hit by a pitch to make it 5-3 and Jake Leonardo followed with a sacrifice fly to cut it to a one-run game. After Allen walked, Tison hit an infield single to tie the score. Mason went ahead in the seventh when Davis and Fernandez hit back-to-back one-out singles and Haas doubled to make it 6-5. Leonardo followed with a single and a two-run lead.

In the bottom of the eighth, Tison and Schafferman led off with singles and Tison scored on a Davis one-out double. The play was ruled dead when the ball got trapped in the corner and Schafferman had to hold at third. Fernandez then flew out to right and Davis was doubled up before Schafferman could score on the play, keeping the Mason lead at 8-5. That would prove critical in the ninth.

Boliek singled with one out and was replaced on the base paths when Mike Mergenthaler reached on a fielder's choice. Despite being down to their final out, Richmond didn't give up. Allen was unable to field Jacob Mayers' grounder and record the final out and the Spiders took advantage as Phil Ruzbarsku doubled to make it 8-6 and Massar singled to tie the contest at 8-8.

The Patriots will return to action on Friday when they play their first Colonial Athletic Association game of the season. The three-game series at Delaware begins with a Friday contest scheduled for 3 p.m.