WILMINGTON, NC – The George Mason baseball team capped of the weekend in Wilmington, NC with a 14-5 loss to Western Carolina in the team's final game of the Hughes Bros. Challenge on Sunday.

The Patriots dip to 1-5 on the early season whereas the Catamounts improve to 3-3.

Mason was once again able to jump out to a lead in the first inning, the fifth time in six games the Patriots have scored in the first frame. Luke Willis began the contest with a well-placed bunt single down the right line which was followed up by Tyler Nelin's first homerun of the season, also his first as a Patriot and the first for Mason in 2015. He finshed 2-4 along with Willis and Derek Evans, who went 2-3 with a double.

With the 2-0 lead, Jake Kalish stood on the mound for the second time this season where he was able to strike out three batters in the first two innings. The Catamounts jumped on top in the third inning, plating three runs on four singles for the 3-2 lead.

Western Carolina would score two runs in the top of the fifth, one in the sixth and three in the seventh, each time answered by a Mason run in the bottom half of the inning. Willis scored in the fifth on a double play ball by Brady Acker and Blackstone came across in the sixth after leading off with a double to left field. Trevor Kelly, who doubled with one out in the seventh, was singled home by Ray Toto's first RBI of the season in the next at bat. The Patriots trailed 9-5 through seven innings.

Kalish threw five innings in his second loss of the season, allowing four earned runs on nine hits with six total strikeouts. Also pitching for Mason in the game was Ryan Ricci, Riley Coverdale, Evan Porcella, Ryan Galvin and two-thirds of an inning from Jayme Murray.

The Catamounts tacked on five runs in the top of the ninth on three hits for a total of 14 runs on 15 hits. Mason used 11 to score its five runs and recorded one error on the day.

Next on the schedule for the Green and Gold is a Wednesday afternoon game at 3:00 p.m. at Longwood.