FAIRFAX, Va. – Junior Mark Maksimow pitched the first five innings and was backed up by Tyler Kardas and Riley Coverdale as the George Mason baseball team (11-17) shut out Mount St. Mary's (4-17) 8-0 at Spuhler Field on Tuesday afternoon.

The trio of Mason pitchers combined to allow only four hits while walking two batters in the second shutout of the season for Mason. Maksimow improved to 1-3 with five innings of two-hit baseball and one strikeout, retiring nine of his final 10 batters faced.

The Patriots put up early run support by scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Luke Willis led off the game with a double to right-center field and later came around to score on a hit-and-run single by Brandon Gum for the 1-0 lead. Michael Smith advanced to third on the play after drawing a walk and later scored on a wild pitch.

Mason scored two more in the bottom of the fourth with this time Kent Blackstone leading off with a double, his seventh of the season. Brady Acker singled to move him to third and Tyler Nelin followed with a double down the left field line, pushing the score to 3-0. Acker would score from third on a fielders choice groundout by Willis and high throw home from third baseman Brendan Dabagian.

The game was broken open in the bottom of the sixth inning as four runs scored on two hits. Gum recorded his second single in a 2-4 day to bring home Willis and Andrew Sable with the bases loaded. Jake Kalish also provided an RBI single for the eighth and final run. Mason ended the day with nine hits.

Kardas pitched the sixth and seventh innings, allowing two hits while Coverdale worked around a walk by forcing a double play as he pitched the eighth.

Mason begins a five-game swing on the road tomorrow at Towson. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.