FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason baseball team completed a series sweep of the visiting Iona Gaels on Sunday afternoon behind 13-1 and 5-4 victories as part of the doubleheader at Spuhler Field. Mason improved to 3-3 on the season while the Gaels dropped to 1-5.
The Patriots will be back in action on Wednesday night, traverling to face Georgetown at 3 p.m.
George Mason 13, Iona 1 (Game One)
Mason registered at
least one run in the first five innings of the game as it ran away with a 13-1
victory over Iona in game one of a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon.
The Patriots started Jared Gaynor who earned his first win of the
season (1-1) with a strong showing, throwing 6.0 innings and allowing just one
run on six hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. Iona starter Max Bruckner
took the loss, lasting just 3.2 innings and giving up 12 runs on nine hits with
four walks and two strikeouts.
The runs came early, as the Patriots tallied three in the
home half of the first inning. With two on and one out, Tucker Tobin stepped to
the plate and ripped a single to left field to bring in one run. Blaise
Fernandez then reached on a fielding error that also allowed a run to score
before Anthony Montefusco hit an RBI double down the left field line for the
3-0 margin.
Three more runs crossed home plate for Mason in the bottom
of the second, as Andrew Sable led off with a double, advanced on a wild pitch
and scored on a sac fly by Josh Leemhuis. Duncan Satherlie then singled to put one
on for Tobin who hit a bomb to right center, extending the Mason advantage to
6-0.
Iona put its lone run of the game on the board in the top of
the third on an RBI single from Jimmy Guiliano, but Mason cancelled it out in
the bottom of the inning as Brandon Gum doubled, advanced on a flyout by Sable
and scored on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 7-1.
An offensive outpouring by the Patriots in the fourth inning
pushed the Mason advantage to 12-1, as five runs scored. With one out Satherlie
walked and again found himself coming home on a home run by Tobin, this time to
left field, for a 9-1 advantage. Fernandez then walked and Montefusco was hit
by a pitch before both runners advanced on a groundout by Mick Foley and scored
on a triple to deep center field by Gum to give the Patriots an 11-run lead.
The final Mason run came in the fifth, as Satherlie hit an
RBI double to left center for the final 13-1 margin.
Tobin powered the Patriot offense, going 4-for-5 with five
RBI and three runs scored. Satherlie finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and three
runs scored and Gum was 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored.
Guiliano went 1-for-4 on the day for Iona, registering the
only RBI.
Taylor Hunt and Michael Bowie both made their first relief
appearances in 2013 for the Patriots, combining to throw three scoreless
innings with one hit and two strikeouts.
George Mason 5, Iona 4 (Game Two)
Iona struck first in game two of the
doubleheader, as Bobby Vitulano doubled down the right field line and scored on
a single to center by Matt Kriss to give the visitors their first lead since
the first inning on Friday afternoon.
The Patriots answered in the third
inning, as Tucker Tobin drilled a two-out, bases-loaded single to right field,
scoring Tommy Vitaletti to tie the score at 1-1. Two innings later, Mason took
the lead for the first time in the nightcap with a two-run fifth inning. Josh Leemhuis
scored on a Tobin RBI double after leading off the inning with the walk, and a
sacrifice fly by Ray Toto allowed Duncan Satherlie to score and leave the score
3-1 after five innings.
Iona came back to knot the game in the
seventh, scoring two unearned runs with two outs in the top half of the inning.
Vitulano put the ball in play with the bases loaded, but a fielding error by the
Patriots allowed Joseph Sessa and Christian Choman to both cross the plate,
making the score deadlocked at 3-all.
The Gaels regained the lead in the
eighth inning, with Chris Sand's RBI double to right field scoring Joe Smith
with two outs, but it was a short-lived advantage. Mason plated two runs in the
bottom half, thanks to a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Leemhuis to right field,
and a wild pitch by Tom Kriss which allowed Evans to score from third base.
Cabrera came on in the ninth to close
out the victory, and he was able to do so by facing the minimum. The junior
lefty struck out Carmine Palummo and Vitulano for the first and third outs,
while Torres was caught trying to steal second base after being issued a
four-pitch walk.
Tobin led all players with his
2-for-4, two-RBI game, while five different Gaels each recorded a hit. John
Williams (1-0) earned the victory with 1.2 innings of relief of starter Jake
Kalish, who struck out eight and allowed three hits in six and a third innings
of work. Cabrera picked up his first save of the year, while Kriss was saddled
with the loss after allowing the game-winning run.
