GREENVILLE, N.C. – The George Mason baseball team was limited to just three singles and had a total of six base runners in a 6-0 loss to sixteenth-ranked East Carolina on Wednesday afternoon at Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium. The Pirates outscored the Patriots by a combined 14-1 in the sweep of the two-game series.
East Carolina (10-3) would dent the scoreboard first in the home half of the second against Mason freshman Brian Marconi. Luke Bolka doubled to right-center to lead off the inning, moved to third on a fly out and scored on a ground out to give ECU a 1-0 lead. Mason (2-10) has given up the first run in eight of 12 games this season.
In the second inning, East Carolina dropped down two bunt singles and drew a walk to load the bases with one away. Marconi nearly worked his way out of the trouble, getting ahead in the count to Bryce Harman 0-2, but walked him to force in a run and make the score 2-0.
The Patriots threatened in the top of the third. With two outs, sophomore Michael Smith was hit by a pitch and went to second on a wild pitch, but he was stranded on base when Pirates starter Cam Colmore retired sophomore Brady Acker on a grounder to first.
Mason also put the pressure on ECU in the top of the fifth, again with two outs. Freshman Ryan Tassone was hit by a pitch and freshman Caleb Walls, making his first start, lined a single to right field for his first hit of the season to put runners on the corners. Smith fouled out to the catcher to end the inning and the Patriots still trailed by two. Mason had at least one base runner in seven innings in the game.
In the home half of the seventh the Pirates sent eight men to the plate and took advantage of two Mason errors and two walks, scoring twice to double the lead to 4-0. East Carolina then stole 4 bases in the eighth inning and added two more runs for a 6-0 advantage. The Pirates stole five bases in the game and in the series swiped a total of 11.
Marconi had a solid performance for the second straight start. After allowing a walk in the third inning that cost him a run, he settled down and retired the next 11 East Carolina batters that he faced including three straight clean innings.
Five different players had a hit for Mason. Acker belted a double in the first inning in game one of the series, and that was the only extra-base hit of the trip for the Patriots. East Carolina collected 19 hits in the two games, with nine going for extra bases.
Eight of the players in the starting lineup for the Pirates on Wednesday found their way on base at least once and five different players drove in a run.
Marconi (0-1) allowed four runs, three earned, on five hits over 6.1 innings of work and suffered the loss. He finished the day two pitches shy of 100 when he gave way to junior Tyler Tobin in the seventh. The Patriots haven't scored a run in Marconi's two starts, a span of 11.1 innings.
Tobin allowed two runs on two hits and walked four in his one inning. Senior Evan Porcella retired the two batters he faced in the Pirates half of the eighth inning. The three Mason pitchers combined to walk six and strike out just one for the day.
Colmore (1-0) surrendered just one single and allowed only three base runners in his four innings to earn the victory. He struck out four and issued only one free pass. Two ECU relievers combined to toss five scoreless innings, striking out five without a walk.
The Patriots are back at Spuhler Field when they open a three-game weekend series against Siena with a doubleheader on Saturday, March 12. The first pitch for game one is scheduled for 1 p.m.
