WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The George Mason baseball team saw its pitching staff take over Saturday afternoon, holding William & Mary to just one run while the Patriot offense came through late, earning a 3-1 Colonial Athletic Association victory at Plumeri Park. Mason improved to 15-30 (6-17 CAA) with the win while the Tribe dropped to 27-17, 10-7 in conference.
Starter Anthony Montefusco (3-5) delivered a superlative outing, allowing one unearned run in a season-long eight-inning outing while striking out seven and scattering seven hits. In relief to pitch the ninth, Sean Cabrera retired all three batters he faced including two strikeouts to earn his third save. John Sheehan (4-3) took the loss after allowing the go-ahead run in the eighth.
After 1-2-3 innings by both teams in the first, W&M got on the board after Ryan Lindemuth led off the second with a single and went on to score on a sac fly to left by Jackson Shaver. The 1-0 score would hold until the sixth, when Mason tied the game on a sacrifice fly by Blaise Fernandez, who drove in Josh Leemhuis after he led off with a single. The Patriots had the bases loaded, but Tribe starter Brett Koehler induced a flyout to end the threat.
Mason's eventual game-winner came in the very next inning. Jordan Hill led off the inning with a single and was sacrificed over by Brandon Gum. Leemhuis walked to put runners on first and second, and on the next play, Derek Evans put the ball in play to second. A potential double-play ball, W&M got the lead runner but the throw to first got away, allowing Evans to reach on a fielder's choice. More importantly, Hill took advantage by rounding third and came home to score, making it 2-1 Patriots.
Shaver had a one-out double down the left field line in the home half of the seventh, but could not score in what was the Tribe's last scoring threat. The Patriots added the insurance run in the ninth, as Duncan Satherlie led off with a walk, moved to second on Hill's sacrifice bunt, and scored on Gum's double to left field.
In for the ninth, Cabrera induced an unassisted groundout to Mick Foley at first base before dealing back-to-back swinging strikeouts to give Mason the victory. Mason saw seven different players record a hit, while Lindemuth powered the Tribe offense with a 3-for-4 day.
The teams will meet Sunday in the rubber game at 1 p.m.
