FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason baseball team (6-9) split the Sunday doubleheader vs. the Manhattan Jaspers (3-12), winning the first game 11-1 and falling in the second contest of the day 6-1.
Senior John Williams guided the Patriots with a strong performance in the first game of the day on the way to his fourth win of the season in five games. Williams struck out at least one batter in the first five innings and nine overall while allowing one run on six hits in eight innings on the mound to move to 4-0 this season.
The Jaspers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first when Jose Carerra led off with a single, stole second and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt before reaching home on an RBI single from Mikey Miranda. The run however would the only one of the game for Manhattan, which recorded six hits.
Mason evened the score in the bottom of the second and broke out to a 5-1 lead after scoring four runs in the bottom of the third. Luke Willis led off with a double and Michael Smith made his way on base with a perfectly dropped bunt down the third base line, which allowed Brandon Gum to bring both home on a single to left-center and an throwing error by Carerra at shortstop. Jake Kalish and Ray Toto also provided an RBI single and RBI double, respectively.
The Patriots scored two more in the bottom of the seventh and three more in the bottom of the eighth, scoring 11 runs on 11 hits and having 10 players record at least one. Jayme Murray drove home the final two runs with a pinch-hit single down the right field line and Tyler Kardas tossed the final inning of the game, striking out one.
The Jaspers scored again for the first time in game number two, putting up three runs in the third inning on two hits. Miranda grounded to third with the bases loaded and Kent Blackstone's throw home went high, allowing two runs to score on the play. A wild pitch scored the final run of the inning.
Manhattan cemented the win with a three-run homerun from Evan Brown in the top of the sixth off of Kalish, who struck out nine batters in six innings with four earned runs on six hits. Evan Porcella and Tyler Tobin combined for three perfect innings out of the bullpen with three combined strikeouts. Blackstone scored Mason's lone run in the bottom of the eighth on a wild pitch.
Mason returns to action in Fairfax on Wednesday, March 18 against James Madison at 3:00 p.m.
