BASEBALL (10-23, 2-7 A-10) vs. GEORGE WASHINGTON (13-21, 3-3 A-10)

WHEN:  3 p.m. Friday, Apr. 15; 1 p.m. Saturday, Apr. 16; 12 p.m. Sunday, Apr. 17
WHERE:  Barcroft Park in Arlington, Va.
LAST MEETING:  Mason won two of three against George Washington Apr. 24-26, 2015 with two of the games decided by a single run.
LIVE STATS: Friday | Saturday | Sunday
RADIO:  GoMason Digital Network

FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason baseball team returns to Atlantic 10 Conference play this weekend with a three-game Revolutionary Rivalry series against George Washington beginning Friday in Arlington, Va. 

Mason (10-23, 2-7 A-10) is coming off a 12-5 loss at Georgetown on Tuesday.  The Hoyas scored nine runs on eight hits in the seventh inning to break the game open.  The Patriots and Hoyas split the two games in the season series.

Senior Kent Blackstone went 2-for-4 and scored a run.  He has seven multi-hit games this season and leads the Patriots in hits (32), extra-base hits (16), RBIs (23), and total bases (57).  Freshman Greg Popatak II was 2-for-4 with a RBI and a run scored and sophomore Michael Smith drove in a pair of runs.

Freshman catcher Bailey Klein belted his first collegiate home run in the game against Georgetown. 

“You always remember certain parts of your career as you go through it, but one of things that each position player always remembers is where they hit their first home run,” said head coach Bill Brown of Klein's homer.  “It was great to see Bailey do that and it was a clutch time in the game for us and he delivered.”

As a team, the Patriots have hit 15 homers this season.  Tyler Nelin and Garett Driscoll lead the team with three round trippers each.

Mason now turns its attention to George Washington in the #RevRivalry.  The Patriots took two of three against the Colonials last season at Spuhler Field, dropping the first game of the series 5-4, winning the middle game 5-0 and claiming the finale 4-3 in 10 innings.

In the final game of the series, Trevor Kelly tied the score with a two-out, two-run single in the ninth and Blackstone delivered a two-out single in the tenth for the walk-off win.  Evan Porcella and Tyler Tobin combined to toss five scoreless innings, with Tobin earning the victory.   

The Patriots have won six of the last eight games played between the two teams at Barcroft Park.

“If we are going to get into the mix of qualifying for the conference tournament and finishing strong, we need to start this weekend,” Brown said of the matchup against the Colonials.  “We are going to need to win series as we move forward and play well enough to take all three on any given weekend, we'll focus on Friday and hopefully we'll play great.”

The Patriots are 2-7 against Atlantic 10 opponents this season with both wins at Spuhler Field.  Mason has played just one conference road series and was swept in the three-game set against Saint Louis.

SCOUTING REPORT

George Washington (13-21, 3-3 A-10) defeated Towson 10-2 on Tuesday.  The Colonials collected 15 hits in the game and were led by junior Bobby Campbell, who went 4-for-5 with a two-run homer and scored three times. 

The Colonials have played their last six games on the road, going 3-3 including dropping two of three games at Davidson in A-10 play.  In their last home series, the Colonials won two of three against La Salle with both victories by a single run (4-3, 2-1). 

George Washington is 6-9 at home this season, outscoring opponents by a combined score of 41-15 in the six wins.  The Colonials have also been limited to three runs or fewer in nine of their 15 games played at Barcroft Park.

George Washington is batting .284 as a team.  Sophomore Mark Osis leads the Colonials at the plate batting .389 with 15 RBIs and 17 runs scored in his 26 games this season.  Junior Bobby Campbell is hitting .348 and leads the team in home runs (3), extra-base hits (16) and is second on the team with 26 RBIs.  Junior Kevin Mahala is batting .295 and leads George Washington with 31 RBIs.

Last season, the Colonials won three conference series, with two three-game sweeps and finished just one win ahead of the Patriots with a 13-11 conference record.  George Washington went 32-22 overall and 2-2 in the Atlantic 10 Tournament held at Barcroft Park.  After losing to Richmond in the opening game, George Washington posted wins over Fordham and Richmond before suffering a 2-1 season-ending loss to Davidson.  Two wins in the A-10 Championship marked the first time since 2006 that the Colonials earned multiple postseason victories.

PROBABLE STARTERS

Friday, April 15:

George Mason:  RHP Tyler Zombro (1-6, 7.09)
George Washington:  RHP Bobby LeWarne (4-2, 3.49)

Saturday, April 16:

George Mason:  LHP Joe Williams (1-4, 4.99)
George Washington:  LHP Shane Sweeney (2-2, 4.89)

Sunday, April 17:

George Mason:  LHP Brian Marconi (0-2, 5.50)
George Washington:  RHP Brady Renner (0-0, 2.70)