NEWARK, Del. – The George Mason baseball team carried a lead into the ninth, but Delaware put six runs on the board in the bottom half of the inning to complete its come-from-behind, 11-8 win on Friday afternoon at Bob Hannah Stadium.
Mason scored the first runs of the game and maintained that advantage all the way to the home half of the ninth before allowing Delaware to put six on the board, including a three-run walkoff home run by D.J. Long. With the loss, the Patriots dropped to 12-18 and 4-9 in the CAA, while the Blue Hens improved their winning streak to 10 games and record to 20-8 overall and 7-3 in the conference.
Scoring the first run of the game, Tommy Vitaletti led off with a double, advanced to third on a flyout from Duncan Satherlie and came home as Tucker Tobin grounded out to third, giving Mason a 1-0 advantage.
Mason put two more runs on the board in the second, as Derek Evans and Mick Foley both singled before Evans scored on a Brandon Gum RBI single and Foley came home off a sac fly by Satherlie to add to the lead, 3-0. Another run crossed home in the third to add to the advantage, as Josh Leemhuis delivered an RBI sac fly to put the Patriots up, 4-0.
Nick Ferdinand put Delaware on the board in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run home run over the left field wall to cut the Mason advantage in half, 4-2.
Three walks to the bottom of the order to start the sixth loaded the bases for Mason, and Vitaletti brought in two runs with a single that found its way through the right side to put the advantage back to four runs, 6-2.
Delaware got one of those runs back in the home half, as Cameron Travalini doubled and scored on a single to right from Jimmy Yezzo, but Fernandez knocked his second home run of the season to lead off the seventh for the Patriots, growing the lead back to four runs, 7-3.
The Blue Hens rally started in the eighth, as they climbed back to within two runs, 7-5. With two outs and two on, Zach Lopes hit a ball to Gum who looked like he would get the easy force out at second, but his throw sailed over the head of Evans at second base, allowing the two UD runs to come home.
Tacking on a run in the top of the ninth, Evans lined a shot through the left side to score Fernandez who reached earlier on a walk. However, it was not enough as UD connected on four consecutive singles to lead off the home half of the ninth, bringing in two runs. Gaynor got Yezzo to strike out swinging, but another single from Ferdinand tied the game at 8-8. Long then stepped to the plate and blasted a shot to right field, scoring three runs to give Delaware the 11-8 win.
Gaynor was strong through the first eight innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on seven hits with a walk and six strikeouts before Delaware jumped on him in the ninth. Evans finished the day 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Fernandez extended his on-base streak to 37 games with a 2-for-3 showing.
Delaware reliever Jake Clark picked up his first win of the season in just 0.1 innings of work. Starter Chad Kuhl lasted 6.0 innings, allowing seven runs on 10 hits with five walks and four strikeouts. Brock Niggebruegge was 3-for-4, while Ferdinand finished 2-for-5 with three RBI's.
The Patriots and Blue Hens square off again tomorrow afternoon, with the first pitch scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
