FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason baseball team dropped the final game of its series against Cornell 9-3 on Sunday afternoon at Spuhler Field.

Mason (6-10) fell behind in the first inning for the third straight game in the series against the Big Red.  Cornell junior Ellis Bitar doubled and senior Tommy Wagner followed with a RBI single against starter Zach Mort to give Cornell a 1-0 lead. 

The Patriots looked to counter in the bottom of the inning.  Junior Tyler Nelin walked and freshman Logan Driscoll singled to put runners on first and second with one out, but Cornell starter Paul Balestrieri was able to work out of the trouble without allowing a run.

The Big Red added to the advantage in the second.  After back-to-back singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out, freshman Kaleb Lepper doubled down the right field line, driving in two runs to make the score 3-0.

Cornell plated a single run in the fourth to pad the lead to 4-0 when Bitar drove in a run with a two-out double to the gap in right-center.

The Big Red would send eight batters to the plate in the fifth, scoring four runs on four hits to double the lead 8-0.  Senior Cole Rutherford had the big hit in the frame when he connected on his first home run of the season, a two-run blast over the right field fence.  The first four batters in the inning reached base for the Big Red.

Cornell had six players drive in at least one run and six players score at least one run.  The Big Red had at least one hit in every inning except the ninth and finished with 14 hits in the game.

The Patriots dented the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth.  With two outs, Nelin singled and Driscoll was hit by a pitch.  Junior Trevor Kelly then singled to right field with Nelin racing around from second to make the score 8-1.

Cornell added a run in the top of the seventh to build a 9-1 lead.  Mason answered in the home half of the inning, loading the bases with only one out.  Nelin led off with a double, Driscoll was hit by a pitch and with one out, sophomore Greg Popatak II walked.

Nelin eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Tim Quinn for the second run of the game for Mason.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Kelly hit his second home run of the season in the 9-3 defeat.

Nelin went 2-for-4 and scored two runs.  He extended his hitting streak to 10 games.  Kelly was 2-for-5 with a home run and drove in two of Mason's three runs.  Driscoll finished 1-for-3 and now has a five-game hitting streak.

Mort (1-2) allowed seven runs, six earned, on nine hits over 4.0 innings and suffered the loss.  Junior Ryan Ricci, sophomore Jon Ostroff and freshman Jared DiCesare each tossed one scoreless inning for the Patriots in the contest.  Mason used a total of six pitchers in the game.

Balestrieri (2-0) allowed one run on four hits in 5.0 innings to earn the win, while freshman Jeb Bemiss gave up two runs on four hits in 4.0 innings of work for the Big Red.

The Patriots are back on the diamond when they face No. 20 N.C. State on Wednesday at Doak Field in Raleigh, N.C.  The first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.