FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason baseball team fell behind in the first inning and dropped the first game of its weekend series against Cornell, with the Big Red claiming a 7-3 victory on Friday afternoon at Spuhler Field.

Mason (5-9) starter Tyler Zombro allowed three singles in the first inning, with Cornell senior Cole Rutherford driving in his fourth run of the season with a two-out RBI single to left field to give the Big Red a 1-0 lead. 

Cornell has outscored its opponents 7-0 in the first inning in four games this season.  Mason has allowed at least one run in the first inning in four straight games.

After allowing the run in the first, Zombro retired 10 of the next 11 batters he faced.

In the home half of the fourth, junior Tyler Nelin led off the inning against Cornell starter Tim Willittes by crushing a 1-1 offering over the left-center field fence to tie the score 1-1.  Nelin's five home runs lead the team and are tied for the most in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Cornell sent eight batters to the plate and took advantage of an error in the fifth inning to score three runs on three hits to build a 4-1 lead.  Junior Ellis Bitar provided the big hit in the inning when he drove in two runs for the Big Red with a double to right field.

The Patriots climbed back into the game in the bottom of the sixth.  Sophomore Brady Acker led off with a single to left, went to second on a fly out and moved to third on a balk.  After sophomore Greg Popatak II drew a two-out walk to put runners on the corners, a wild pitch allowed the runners to advance, with Acker coasting home from third to cut the lead to 4-2.

Mason made it a one-run game when Popatak scored all the way from second on a fielding error by the shortstop to make the score 4-3.

Cornell then pulled away with two runs on three hits in the eighth and added a run on a RBI double in the ninth for the 7-3 final.

Freshman Logan Driscoll went 1-for 4 and has a hit in three straight games.  Sophomore Tim Quinn was 1-for-4 and has collected at least one hit in each of his last four starts.  With his home run, Nelin extended his hitting streak to eight straight games. 

Eight of the nine players in the starting lineup for Mason reached base at least once in the game. 

Zombro (0-3) allowed four runs, two earned, on nine hits in 6.0 innings of work.  He struck out eight and walked just one and 71 of his 90 pitches in the outing were for strikes.  Junior Timothy Turner surrendered two runs on four hits in 1.2 innings, while classmate Ryan Ricci tossed one scoreless inning for the Patriots. 

Mason pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts in the game.

Willittes (2-0) gave up three runs on five hits over 5.2 innings to earn the win.  Senior reliever Peter Lannoo scattered two singles over 3.1 innings for the Big Red.

The middle game of the series is Saturday at Spuhler Field with the first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m.