FAIRFAX, Va. – Trailing early, the George Mason baseball team showed resilience as it rallied to grab the lead, but a big ninth inning by George Washington helped propel the Colonials past the Patriots, 11-9, on Tuesday afternoon at Spuhler Field.
Trailing 6-0 after 3.5 innings, the Patriots battled back to take a 9-7 lead in the eighth inning, but a four-run ninth for GW helped the squad improve to 11-17 overall, while the Patriots dropped to 12-16.
A Mason error in the first helped GW put a run on the board for the early lead. With one out, Xavier Parkmond reached on a fielding error by third baseman Derek Evans, stole second and came home on an RBI single to left from Brookes Towsend.
Another Patriot error added a run for GW in the second. With two out, Tyler Mccarthy hit a slow dribbler to the left side of the infield. Evans charged the ball but his throw went wide of first base, allowing Mccarthy to advance all the way to third before scoring on an RBI double down the left field line from Matthew Murakami to bring the GW lead to 2-0.
Mason chipped away in the home half of the second, as Blaise Fernandez tripled and Anthony Montefusco walked to lead off the inning. Jordan Hill stepped up to the plate and ground into a double play, but Fernandez was able to score to cut the Colonials' advantage in half, 2-1.
Mason starter Michael Bowie struggled in the third, starting the inning with a HBP, walk and single to load the bases. Derek Brown earned a painful RBI after he was hit by a pitch to bring in a run and Eric Kalman then reached on a fielder's choice to score another run to extend the GW lead to 4-1. Bowie was able to work out of the jam and prevent any more damage, striking out the final two batters faced to end the inning.
Two more runs scored for GW in the fourth on a sac fly by Parkmond and balk charged to Mason reliever Chris Payne pushed its lead to 6-1. Mason got one run back in the home half of the inning, as Montefusco led off with a double and after two fly outs, Evans and Brandon Gum both walked to load the bases. GW's Danny O'Donnell was quickly replaced by Luke Olson, who allowed a run to score on a wild pitch and pull the Patriots to within four, 6-2.
Owen Beightol recorded a two out solo home run in the sixth, adding to the GW lead, 7-2. However, the Patriots continued chipping away at the lead, scoring two runs in the home half to get back to within three runs, 7-4. Hill and Ray Toto started the inning with back-to-back singles to chase GW's Luke Olson off the mound. He was replaced by Colin Milon who gave up a sac fly to Evans, scoring Hill for the first run. Gum then singled and Tommy Vitaletti walked to load the bases for Duncan Satherlie, who delivered Mason's second sac fly of the inning to bring in Toto and pull the Patriots to within three.
Pulling even closer in the bottom of the seventh, Fernandez led off with a single and Montefusco followed with a double to right, putting two runners in scoring position. Hill grounded out to second to score Fernandez before Toto hit a sac fly to right field to bring in Montefusco, drawing Mason to within a run, 7-6.
Finally taking the lead in the bottom of the eighth, Satherlie led off the inning with a triple to left and scored on a single up the middle from Toto to tie the game at 7-7. Fernandez singled to put runners on first and second and with a full count the Patriots completed a perfect hit and run play, with Montefusco delivering an RBI single up the middle to give Mason an 8-7 advantage. Hill then stepped to the plate and executed a suicide squeeze toward the first base side, scoring Fernandez to put the Patriots up by two, 9-7.
Mason couldn't maintain the momentum however, as Sean Cabrera came on in the ninth and struggled, blowing a save attempt after allowing GW to put four runs on the board with two out. Cabrera got his first batter faced to fly out before hitting Townsend to put a runner on. Pinch hitter Travers Nammack struck out swinging for the second out, but a costly error by defensive substitution Mick Foley at first extended the inning. Tyler Fairbanks pinch hit for Matthieu Robert and singled to right, loading the bases for Mccarthy, who drilled the ball to left field for a bases-clearing double, putting the Colonials back in control, 10-9. Murakami followed with a single up the middle to bring in an insurance run for the final 11-9 margin.
Gum led off with a single in the home half of the ninth, but Bobby Lewarne set down his next three batters faced to pick up the win and hand the Patriots their fourth-consecutive loss.
Mason outhit GW 16-10 in the game, with all but one starter recording a hit. Gum finished the day a perfect 3-for-3 with two walks, while Montefusco went 3-for-4 with an RBI and Hill went 1-for-4 with two RBI's. Starter Michael Bowie threw 3.0 innings, allowing six runs (four earned) on four hits with three walks and two strikeouts. Chris Payne worked 4.0 innings, giving up a run on two hits with three strikeouts and a walk, and Mark Maksimow threw 1.0 innings with a hit and two strikeouts. Cabrera dropped to 0-2, giving up all four runs (unearned) in the ninth on three hits.
Mccarthy had a 3-for-5, three RBI showing for the Colonials, and earning the save was Lewarne after working the final two innings and allowing just one hit with two strikeouts.
The Patriots return to action tomorrow, traveling to take on Longwood in Farmville at 4:00 p.m.
