LEXINGTON, SC – Every Patriot in the starting lineup recorded at least one hit and six recorded at least one RBI in George Mason baseball's (3-5) 13-3 win over Canisius (5-4) on Saturday afternoon at the Lexington County Sports Complex.
Mason grabbed the early and permanent lead in the bottom of the first inning, scoring six runs on only three hits in the frame. Nick Gallo started a two out rally when he was hit by the first of three pitches in the game, this one from Alex Godzak followed by a Trevor Kelly single. Up next, Kent Blackstone skied a ball into right field where Brett Siddall lost it in the sun. All three Patriots were able to score, including Blackstone on an inside-the-park homerun, his second homerun in two games.
The rally continued as Tyler Nelin, Ray Toto and Derek Evans were walked to load the bases, three of the 10 walks on the day. Nelin scored on a wild pitch from new pitcher Mike Elwood and Michael Smith singled home Toto and Evans for the fifth and six runs.Godzak moved to 2-1 with the loss after allowing six runs to score in two-thirds of an inning.
Starting pitcher John Williams returned to the mound with enough run support for the afternoon and struck out two batters in the second after two strikeouts in the first inning. Williams' day ended after five innings with seven strikeouts to only one walk and three runs allowed in his second win of 2015.
Leading 7-1 after four innings, Canisius put up two in the top of the fifth before Mason responded with five more in the bottom half. Derek Evans skied his first homerun of the season into right field to begin the inning, finishing the day 1-3 with three walks. Brandon Gum dropped a successful suicide squeeze to score Michael Smith after he was hit by a pitch to get on base, putting Mason up 9-3. Later in the frame with the bases loaded Ray Toto grounded a ball to Jake Lumley at second where it went through his legs to score Blackstone and Gallo.
Evan Porcella took over for Williams in the sixth and threw three shutout innings to lower his ERA to 1.29. Ryan Ricci made his second appearance of the season to finish the game with a scoreless ninth inning.
Willis and Gum each ended the day 2-5 with an RBI while Tyler Nelin got the start in right field, going 3-5 with two RBI and a walk. Gum extends his hitting streak to six games while Smith has now reached base safely in seven consecutive games after going 1-3.
Mason wraps up the weekend in Lexington, SC with an 11:00 a.m. scheduled game against Morehead State at Lexington High School on Sunday, March 1.
