TOWSON, Md. – Luke Willis tied the game at 13 runs apiece with a two-out, two-run homerun in the top of the ninth inning as the George Mason baseball team (12-17-1) tied the Towson Tigers (7-22-1) 13-13 due to darkness on Wednesday.
The tie is Mason's first since 2011 when the Patriots and the Richmond Spiders tied at eight runs on March 9.
Mason tied the ballgame with two outs away in the top of the ninth inning on Luke Willis' dramatic two-run homerun, his second of the ballgame. With two outs gone Derek Evans sent a grounder to third base however the throw to first missed and allowed him to reach on Towson's third error of the game. Willis made the Tigers pay with a homerun to left field that tied the game at 13 in the next at bat.
The Patriots headed into the bottom of the eighth inning with an 11-10 lead but the Tigers tied up the ballgame at 11 with a two-out triple from Peter Bowles. The three hour and thirty one minute game saw four lead changes and a total of 26 runs on 31 hits, 14 coming from Mason.
Mason took a 4-0 led in the top of the first inning with the help of an RBI single from Brady Acker and a two-run single down the right line by Tyler Nelin. Towson brought the score to 4-3 after two innings before Brady Acker hit his first collegiate homerun in the top of the third for a 5-3 lead.
The Tigers scored four in the bottom of the frame to take the 7-5 advantage and both clubs each scored one in the next inning for an 8-6 game through four. Towson scored in seven of its nine innings, including once in the fifth for a 9-6 lead after five innings.
Five runs came across in the top of the sixth for the Patriots, including Willis' first homerun of the game, also a two-run shot to left that also scored Evans. Kent Blackstone doubled in the sixth to score Brandon Gum and Michael Smith and Acker drove home his third run of the day on a sacrifice fly for an 11-9 lead.
Towson scored once in the seventh and then three times in the eighth to retake the lead before Willis' homerun in the ninth. The center fielder ended his day 3-6 with four RBI and two runs whereas Smith, Gum, Blackstone, Acker and Nelin each recorded two hits. A total of seven pitchers were used by the Patriots, started by Ryan Ricci who tossed the first two innings.
Mason continues its stretch of road games this weekend when is begins a series in Richmond against VCU on Friday, April 10 at 11:00 a.m. at The Diamond.
