SAINT LOUIS, MO – Mick Foley delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th inning, scoring Chris Cook from third with two outs to send the George Mason baseball team to a 4-3 victory over Dayton in a rain-delayed first round game of the Atlantic 10 Championship on Wednesday night.
Cook led off the bottom of the 11th with a walk and advanced to second after after Joshn Leemhuis executed a sacrifice bunt. Anthony Montefusco was intentionally walked before Ray Toto bounced a ball in play to put Cook on third.Foley then delivered a two-out single into left-center field to end the ballgame.
All-Rookie selection Tyler Zombro earned the win and improved to 6-2 this season after pitching three scoreless innings when he entered in the top of the ninth. Zombro allowed one hit and struck out three batters in the effort. Jared Gaynor started the game for Mason, earning a no-decision in eight innings pitched in which he allowed one earned run on eight hits with five strikeouts.
Dayton put two runs on the board in the top of the first, capitalizing on two of Mason's five errors in the ballgame. Robby Sunderman reached in the first at bat of the game on an error and eventually came around to score on AJ Ryan's single into left field for a 1-0 lead. The cutoff throw from left was bobbled by Blaise Fernandez, allowing a second Flyer to come home on the play.
Gaynor and Charlie Dant kept runs off the board until the bottom of the sixth, when Fernandez lined a solo homerun into left field to cut the lead in half. The bomb was his fourth of the year and his team-leading 39th RBI.
Mason was able to take the lead for the first time in the bottom of the seventh with two runs on two hits and two Dayton errors. Montefusco was hit by a pitch to lead it off followed by Ray Toto's deep drive into left-center field. Dayton's centerfielder misplayed the ball in the outfield, allowing Toto to slide safely into third and Motnefusco to come home and tie the game at two. A slow roller from Luke Willis with one out, allowed Toto to sprint home from third unearned and put Mason in the lead.
The Flyers tied up the contest in the bottom of the eighth with the help of another error after Alex Harris singled into right field and Leemhuis bobbled the ball to allow Sunderman to score from second. With runners on first and second, Gaynor was able to pick-off AJ Ryan for the second time in the game and get the next batter to fly out to end Dayton's last scoring threat.
With the victory, the Patriots will play Saint Joseph's at 2:30 p.m. EST on Thursday, May 22. The Hawks defeated Fordham in the their first round matchup that was delayed for two hours due two rain, pushing Mason's start time back to 8:30 p.m. local time. Free video and audio will be available for Mason's Thursday game.
