Fairfax, Va. - In the winter of 1976, the George Mason University baseball team began a new season with high hopes and when the dust settled in the spring, the Patriots authored one of the most unforgettable seasons in program history by earning a trip to the NAIA College Baseball World Series for the first time.
With Raymond “Hap” Spuhler at the helm, the Patriots began to realize they might have something special after finishing the 1975 fall season with a record of 15-5. Included were wins over local rivals George Washington, Georgetown, Howard, Catholic and American University.
Jim Buckrop, assistant coach in 1976, said that Spuhler wanted to raise the bar.
“Coach always had that goal in mind, he wanted to take a team to the World Series and I think he saw with our pitching depth and the skill of our position players that we had a real shot,” Buckrop said.
The Patriots had winning streaks of at least five games four times during the year, including a season-high 11 victories in a row towards the end of the season. One of the marque wins of year was on April 13th. Trailing James Madison 5-0 and trying to avoid a three-game losing streak, the Patriots scored six runs in the bottom of the ninth to steal the win.
For this team, crossing the plate was rarely a problem. They were shutout only once all season and held to two or fewer runs only five times. Mason gave opposing pitchers nightmares, scoring at least five runs in 31 of 56 games, including 10 or more runs in a contest nine times.
“It was a well-rounded team, there were no soft spots in the lineup,” Buckrop said as he brought back the memories by flipping through the official 1976 World Series program.
Tim Prime led the team in hits (67), average (.325) and stolen bases (33). Providing the power, Pete Filipowicz led the team with seven round trippers, 46 RBIs and 17 extra-base hits. Joe Neff had four home runs and eight doubles, while Stan Reese and Randy Russell each hit three homers during the season. The Patriots had six players hit over .300 including Mike Carroll (.318), Dave Miller (.314) and Jerry Dellinger (.301). As a team, Mason collected 99 extra-base hits in 56 games.
The Patriots made history when Prime drove in the deciding run and Rick Vaughn picked up a 5-4 victory over Point Park on May 22, 1976. After taking two of three from Point Park, Mason had punched its ticket to St. Joseph, Missouri for a chance to play for the championship.
The 1976 Patriots used a combination of solid pitching, flawless defense and timely hitting throughout the season. And in the first game of the World Series, despite falling behind 1-0 in the first inning and stranding a dozen runners on the bases, Mason found a way to rally back for a 2-1 win over Saint Mary's University (San Antonio, TX). Carroll drove in Prime with a RBI double in the fourth to tie the game, and Reese delivered the game-winning run with a RBI single in the seventh inning.
Dan Bates allowed the first inning run, but was nearly unhittable throughout the game. He scattered five hits, all singles, recorded 16 ground ball outs and in five innings sat down Saint Mary's in order. The Patriots finished with 11 hits, with seven players for Mason collecting at least one. Filipowicz, Carroll and Prime each had a multi-hit game.
“They had a knack for hitting in the clutch,” said Vince Campanella, who was the Sports Information Director for George Mason.
The Patriots win came at the expense of Saint Mary's starting pitcher Danny Heep, who was selected by the Astros in the second round of the 1978 draft and went on to play 13 seasons in Major League Baseball with five different clubs.
Pete Sausville was scheduled to pitch game two of the World Series but was unable to take the hill due to an illness. Vaughn would get the start, and the bad luck continued when he was hit on the hand by a line drive on the final out of the first inning. He would stay in the game until the fifth, but Mason would fall 7-3 to Lewis College, who went on to win their third straight College World Series Championship.
The Patriots allowed two runs or fewer 30 times. Even more impressive, George Mason hurlers finished the season with 11 shutouts on their resume. Patriot pitchers struck out 332 while issuing just 186 free passes.
Bates finished the season 7-2 and led the team in innings pitched (100), strikeouts (73) and ERA (2.16). Sausville won eight of his 10 decisions with a 2.17 ERA and allowed just seven extra base hits in 66.1 innings. Vaughn was 5-1 on the year and fanned 51 batters in 56 innings of work. Craig Burlingame, Gene Funkhouser, Mike Bridgeman, Kevin Carr and Mike Sieve each collected four wins during the season.
“This team had great focus and dedication to be successful, they came prepared to play every day and were real students of the game,” Campanella said. “The pitching staff was very close and extremely competitive,” he added.
In 1976, Cincinnati's “Big Red Machine” swept the New York Yankees to win the World Series for the second straight year. The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Dallas Cowboys to win Super Bowl 10, the Boston Celtics won the NBA title, the University of Oklahoma won the College Football Championship and Indiana University claimed the crown in NCAA basketball. For Mason baseball that same year, the feat was just as special and still not forgotten by those who have put on a Patriots uniform since.
“That's the group that really paved the way for the success. The program wasn't even 10 years old yet and coach Spuhler put that together. It's an honor to recognize them the proper way,” said Mason head coach Bill Brown. “It takes on a special meaning being the coach here knowing what coach Spuhler put into this to start and the vision he had to make this program into something. I'm excited that we are in a small way able to carry that on.”
