HARRISONBURG, Va. - The George Mason baseball team scored
first, but James Madison answered and held off the Patriots late in a 5-2
Colonial Athletic Association victory on Saturday night at a rainy Eagle Field
at Veterans Memorial Park. The Dukes (15-28-1, 9-14 CAA) evened the weekend
series at one game all as Mason (29-17, 14-9) dropped its first Saturday
contest since March 31.
Junior Nick Allen paced the Mason offense with a 3-for-4 day
at the plate, while senior Dan Schafferman was 2-for-4 including an RBI single.
That base hit, a liner through the middle coming in the top of the third inning,
allowed Allen to come home and score and put the Patriots ahead, 1-0.
The Dukes responded in the bottom half, plating three runs
to take control of the advantage for good. Cole McInturff's sacrifice fly to
left scored Chad Carroll and tied the contest, while an RBI groundout by Ty
McFarland made it 2-1 and a Patriots' error allowed Johnny Bladel to cross the
plate, leaving the Dukes on top 3-1.
Two more runs came home in the fifth for JMU, with Bladel
leading off the frame with a walk. He scored on Conner Brown's triple to left
center field, a ball that was mishandled in the outfield for an error which
allowed Brown to complete a trip around the bases and give his squad the 5-1
advantage.
Mason cut it to a three-run deficit as Mick Foley popped up
to shallow center field in the eighth inning, but second baseman Casey Goss was
unable to make the catch. Foley made it all the way to third on the play which
allowed senior Zack Helgeson to score after he earned his third free pass of
the day.
A two-out single by Allen in the top of the ninth put the
tying run in the on-deck circle, but reliever Aaron Hoover induced a
game-ending groundout to finish off his first save of the year.
Hoover tossed three innings in relief, allowing the one
unearned run on one hit while striking out four and walking one. Michael
Howerton (1-2) garnered his first win of the year, starting and throwing six
innings, scattering six hits and allowing one run. For the Patriots, starter
Ryan Pfaeffle (5-4) was saddled with the loss after he allowed all five runs (three
earned) over six innings. Branden Bartlett pitched two perfect innings in relief.
The game was delayed for 46 minutes due to rain and
lightning in the area, and the teams played through intermittent rain
throughout the 2:16 contest.
Mason will look to take its sixth straight CAA series on
Sunday afternoon when the teams meet for the rubber game. First pitch is set
for 2 p.m.
