RICHMOND, Va. - A late rally by the George Mason baseball
team wasn't enough to hand VCU its first loss of the season, as the Rams
escaped with a 4-2 win over the Patriots on Tuesday afternoon at The
Diamond.
With the win in the only meeting this season between the two
former CAA foes, the Rams improved to 9-0, while the Patriots dropped to 6-5
overall.
The Rams put three consecutive hits on the board to start
the first inning, with Joey Cujas delivering an RBI with a double to deep left
field to give VCU an early 1-0 lead.
Chris Payne entered the game for Mason in the third and stumbled,
loading the bases with no outs for VCU's Chris Ayers, who hit an RBI sac fly to
right field and Vimael Machin followed with an RBI single up the middle,
extending the Ram lead to 3-0.
Mason worked its way back into the game in the fifth, as junior
Josh Leemhuis led off with a walk, advanced to second on a botched pickoff
attempt and moved to third on a groundout by freshman Derek Evans. Junior
Patrick Esposito registered the first Patriot run of the game as he hit a
sacrifice fly to right for his first RBI as a Patriot to pull Mason to within
two runs, 3-1.
The Patriots threatened in the sixth, connecting on
back-to-back singles with two outs to leave runners at the corners for Blaise
Fernandez, who flew out to left to end the inning. However, the Rams put their
advantage back to three runs (4-1) in the home half of the inning with an RBI
single from James Bunn.
Rallying in the top of the eighth, the Patriots took
advantage of timely hitting with two outs to try and grab the lead. Sophomore Tommy
Vitaletti started the rally with a two-out double to left field and came home
on a hard-hit single up the middle by senior Duncan Satherlie. Tobin followed
with a double and Fernandez walked to load the bases. After a VCU pitching
change, Leemhuis ground into a fielders choice, ending the inning and Mason
scoring threat.
Tobin and Satherlie were the lone multiple-hit players for
the Patriots, going 3-for-4 and 2-for-4 with an RBI, respectively.
A staff day for Mason pitching, starter Tanner Love took the
loss after working two innings and allowing one run on four hits with a
strikeout. VCU starter Trevor Marino picked up his first win of the season,
while Matt Lees earned his sixth save.
The Patriots return to action tomorrow, hosting Navy at 2:30
p.m.
