PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Tyler Zombro pitched eight of nine innings for his seventh win of the year as the George Mason baseball team (22-25-1) came away with an 8-3 victory over La Salle (22-26-1) in the series finale on Sunday.
The win more importantly gives Mason an 11-10 record in the Atlantic 10 Conference standings and the tiebreaker over La Salle. The Explorers are now 10-11 in the conference.
The Patriots scored seven of their eight runs in the first three innings of the ballgame, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. Luke Willis began the game with a ground ball to second base that was thrown away on its way to first, putting him on second. A ground ball moved him to third and Kent Blackstone drew a walk, setting up Brady Acker's two-RBI triple down the right field line. The throw to third from the cutoff man sailed wide, allowing Acker to score on the play for the 3-0 lead.
Willis was also involved with the scoring in the second inning, doubling home Michael Smith with one out after he was hit by a pitch. The RBI was Willis' 28th of the season and extended his hit streak to 26 games, one short of tying the program record.
La Salle put a run back on the board in the bottom of the second however Mason responded with three in the top of the third. Blackstone doubled down the right field line and Tyler Nelin singled into center field immediately after in the first two at bats of the inning for the 5-1 lead. Two batters later Ray Toto smashed his second homerun of the season over the left field fence for the 7-1 advantage.
Zombro allowed one run to score in each of the third and fourth innings but the scoring would stop there for the Explorers. He ended his day with eight hits allowed and also four strikeouts with zero walks while forcing 16 groundouts on the bump. The Patriots did not walk any batters in the ballgame.
Mason tacked on one more run once Zombro exited the game when Derek Evans and Michael Smith teamed up for a single and double with two outs in the top of the eighth. Willis singled after Smith, who tried to score from second on the play but was thrown out at home.
Joe Williams struck out the first two batters of the ninth inning and forced the final one to ground out to third for the last out. In the top of the ninth Brandon Gum lined a single through the left side in his final plate appearance, prolonging his hit streak to 25 games with the 10th of 11 hits for Mason. La Salle starting pitcher Mark Williams was chased after Toto's homerun, allowing five earned runs in two-and-one-third innings.
The Patriots play their final series of the regular season from Thursday to Saturday this coming weekend against UMass at Spuhler Field.
