FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason baseball team scored the first five runs of the game on the way to an 8-4 win over Fordham on Saturday afternoon at Spuhler Field.

Mason (9-13, 2-0 A-10) took the lead in the bottom of the second inning against Fordham starter Mike Cowell.  Junior Trevor Kelly led off the inning with a single and with one out, junior Garett Driscoll drew a walk to put runners on first and second.

After an infield single by freshman John Callahan loaded the bases, sophomore Alejandro Aponte drove in two runs with his fourth double of the season, a hard-hit ball into the gap in right-center field to give the Patriots a 2-0.

"The first pitch fastball, I took the pitch," Aponte said.  "I was looking for the fastball in the middle.  We had great at-bats today and great pitching and when you combine that, you'll win."

Mason has scored the first run of the game in five of the last six contests.

"It gives you a chance to catch your breath a little bit and it makes a huge difference," Mason head coach Bill Brown said of scoring the first run.  "It's nice to relax and get into the flow of the game.  At this point we can't be satisfied with just winning the series.  Now we have to finish and hopefully we'll do that tomorrow."

The Patriots sent nine batters to the plate in the third, scoring three runs on four hits.  Junior Frank Sturek led off with a single and after a fielder's choice, Kelly walked to put runners on first and second with one out.

Sophomore Greg Popatak II increased the advantage with one swing of the bat when he crushed his third home run of the season, a three-run blast over the right field fence to make the score 5-0.

"I was looking for a fastball and it was up a little bit," Popatak said.  "I didn't try to do too much, just put a good swing on it."

Mason starter Brian Marconi allowed just three hits over the first four innings before Fordham (7-11, 0-2 A-10) was able to dent the scoreboard in the fifth.  Senior Jason Lundy led off the inning with a solo home run to make it a 5-1 game.

Freshman Billy Godrick then singled to right-center, advanced to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a RBI single by sophomore Reiss Knehr to cut the lead to 5-2.

Mason answered in the home half of the fifth by sending eight batters to the plate in a long inning against three Rams pitchers.  Popatak began the inning with his fifth double of the season and after a sacrifice bunt by Driscoll, Callahan plated Popatak with a RBI single to left and it was 6-2 Mason.

The Patriots continued the rally when sophomore Brady Acker singled, with Callahan moving to second on the play.  Sophomore Michael Smith drove in run with a single to right, with Callahan motoring around from second to make the score 7-2.

Sophomore Zach Mort took over on the mound for Mason in the sixth inning. 

The Rams scored in the top of the seventh, using back-to-back singles and a double off the left field wall by sophomore Justin Bardwell to make the score 7-4.

Again Mason responded in the bottom of the inning.  With two outs, Acker connected for his second home run of the season, a no-doubter that sailed through the late afternoon sky and over the left field fence for the 8-4 final score.

Mason has hit 20 home runs this season.  The Patriots have belted nine round trippers over the last nine games.

"The power just comes," said Brown.  "At whatever point you try to hit the ball out of the ballpark, it doesn't happen for you.  "Greg all this week has put some really good swings on the baseball and he's starting to get a little bit to show for the work he's put in.  The same for Brady, his last two times up, a line drive single and then he drove one out."

Marconi (3-2) allowed two runs on six hits over 5.0 innings to earn the win.  He struck out two and walked only one batter.  Mort allowed two runs on five hits in 4.0 innings of work to pick up his first save of the season.  He earned all eight Mason saves last season.

"Zach is conditioned to do that and it was a pretty warm day," Brown said of the rare four-inning save by Mort.  "At best Brian was going to go one more inning, so I thought it was the right time to make the move."

Popatak went 2-for-4 with a double, home run, three RBI and two runs scored.  Callahan was 3-for-4 with three singles, drove in a run and scored a run.  Aponte finished 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI, while Acker went 2-for-4 with a home run.

Every player in the Mason lineup reached base at least once and seven players had at least one hit.  The Patriots were 6-for-11 (.545) with runners in scoring position, while Fordham went 2-for-12 (.167) with runners in scoring position.

Callahan, Aponte and Acker combined to go 7-for-12 with four RBI and two runs scored.

"It's just fantastic production out of the bottom of the order," Brown said.  "The thing I'm really excited about is that they were really good at-bats and that's what we have been trying to get to."

The Patriots close out the series against the Rams on Sunday with the first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. at Spuhler Field.