FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason baseball team split a doubleheader against Siena on Saturday afternoon at Spuhler Field. The Patriots won the opener 5-2 and the Saints captured the nightcap 5-3.
Game 1: George Mason 5, Siena 2
The Patriots (3-10) took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning when senior Kent Blackstone drove in Brady Acker with a sacrifice fly for his seventh RBI of the season. Mason added a single run in the fourth when sophomore Trevor Kelly walked, went to third on a throwing error and scored on a wild pitch to increase the lead to 2-0.
Mason doubled the lead over Siena (0-11) in the home half of the fifth, with sophomore Brady Acker delivering the big hit with a two-run single to make the score 4-0. Acker has driven in 10 runs in 14 games this season.
In the eighth inning, Blackstone was hit by a pitch and made his way to third with the help of a pass ball and a wild pitch. Kelly then drove in Blackstone with a sacrifice fly and it was 5-0.
Junior Tyler Zombro (1-3) was in control from the start. He allowed just three hits over eight scoreless innings and struck out five to earn his first win of the season. Zombro retired 12 in a row from the fourth to the eighth inning. The Saints loaded the bases in the ninth and scored twice against senior Evan Porcella, but freshman Zach Mort stopped the rally when he struck out pinch hitter Carlos Tapia on three pitches to end the game.
Sophomore Michael Smith and freshman Ryan Tassone each went 2-for-3 and scored a run. Acker went 3-for-4 with a pair of stolen bases and two RBI.
Game 2: Siena 5, George Mason 3
Siena (1-11) scored four runs against Patriots starter Joe Williams in the first two innings to take a 4-0 lead on the way to a 5-3 win. In the first, senior Alex Tuccio drove in the first run of the game with a RBI double to right field and senior Brett Connors drove in a run with a single to left field to increase the lead to 2-0.
The Saints added two more runs in the second inning on a RBI double by Tapia and a run-scoring single by sophomore Jordan Bishop. The Saints collected a season-high 13 hits in their first win of the season.
The Patriots (3-11) scored all three of their runs in the fourth inning. After loading the bases with no outs, freshman Tim Quinn drove in two runs with a single to right field. Acker also scored on a wild pitch in the inning to cut the Saints lead to 4-3.
Siena added an insurance run in the top of the ninth to make the score 5-3. Mason put the tying runs on base in the bottom of the ninth but was unable to score.
Williams (0-2) allowed four runs on 10 hits over 6.2 innings of work. He didn't allow a run after the first two innings. Dylan D'Anna (1-1) gave up three runs on four hits in the win.
The final game of the series is Sunday with the first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.
