AMHERST, Mass. – Brandon Walsh pitched his first complete game of the season, allowing zero earned runs and only five hits as the George Mason baseball team (26-17, 13-6) fell in the final game of the series to UMass (11-28, 8-13) 9-1 on Sunday afternoon.
John Williams fell to 3-2 in the loss, leaving the game after six innings pitched with the bases loaded. The junior allowed five earned runs on 11 hits, striking out two batters and walking one. The Patriot defense committed five errors in the ballgame that allowed UMass to score four unearned runs in the two hour and five minute ballgame.
The Minutemen scored in four of the nine innings, putting up the opening run of the game in the bottom of the third. Dylan Morris singled into center field where Luke Willis was unable to field the ball cleanly, allowing Morris to advance to second on his first error of the season. Morris moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and eventually home on a ground ball second base for the 1-0 lead.
UMass added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth with the help of two Mason errors before the Patriots put their lone run on the board in the top of the sixth. Willis reached base for the 15th consecutive game on an error by shortstop Vinny Scifo, moving to second after Brandon Gum's second single of the game. A fielder's choice groundout advanced Willis to third and Ray Toto's sacrifice fly allowed Willis to score. The center fielder went 0-4 in the contest, snapping a 14-game hitting streak. Toto, Anthony Montefusco and Andrew Sable added singles for the Patriots.
UMass responded with two runs in the bottom half of the sixth and scored four more in the seventh. Morris batted in two in the sixth with a single into left-center field, leading the day for the Minutemen with three RBI. Williams left the game with the bases loaded in the top of the seventh before all three runners came across to score and one additional unearned run off the arm of Evan Porcella. UMass attempted two suicide squeeze bunt attempts, one executed and one caught by Mason however the runner was able to score on a misplay by the Patriot defense.
Porcella pitched through the seventh inning, giving up two hits and one run after striking out the first batter he faced. Tyler Zombro pitched the final inning for Mason, forcing three flyouts on only eight pitches. UMass had a total of 13 hits in the ballgame to Mason's five and committed only one error after five in each of the first two games of the series. The win is UMass' first win over Mason in four games played. Walsh struck out four batters and walked only one in his nine innings of work with 15 of his 27 outs as groundouts.
The Patriots play their final four home games of the season next week, hosting Longwood on Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. and first place Saint Joseph's for a weekend series beginning on Friday, May 9 at 3:00 p.m. Mason will celebrate Senior Day over the weekend along with Youth Baseball day on Saturday, May 10.
