BASEBALL vs. Radford

WHEN: Tuesday, 2:00 p.m. | Wednesday, 2:30 p.m.
WHERE: Spuhler Field | Fairfax, Va.
RECORDS: Mason (4-7), Radford (2-9)
LIVE AUDIO | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason baseball team is back on the diamond for a two-game midweek series against Radford on Tuesday and Wednesday at Spuhler Field in Fairfax, Va.  Tuesday's game is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. and Wednesday's contest is slated for 2:30 p.m.

Mason (4-7) dropped two of three games to Marist in its first home series of the season.  The Patriots went 2-2 last week, recording both of their wins by a single run.  Mason rallied for three runs in the ninth for a 6-5 win at Longwood last Wednesday and edged the Red Foxes 10-9 on Saturday.

Sophomore Zach Mort had a strong outing in Mason's last game, allowing just two earned runs on six singles over 8.0 innings in a 4-1 loss to Marist on Sunday.  His outing is the longest by a Mason starting pitcher this season.

Sophomore Greg Popatak II went 2-for-4 with a double, sophomore Michael Smith was 1-for-1 with two walks and scored the lone run of the game. 

Freshman Logan Driscoll leads the team with 15 hits (.341) and is second on the team with 10 RBI.  Junior Tyler Nelin (.304) leads the team with four home runs and 12 RBI.  Smith (.342) and Popatak (.278) are tied for the most doubles with four each.

Last season, the Patriots swept a doubleheader against the Highlanders on April 23, 2016 and won two of three in the series at Spuhler Field. 

In game one, Tyler Zombro tossed a complete-game two-hitter with nine strikeouts in a 2-0 win. 

In the nightcap, Mason scored seven runs in the first three innings, including five in the third on the way to a 9-3 victory.  Trevor Kelly finished 3-for-5 with two RBI, Popatak went 4-for-5 and drove in a run, while Jonathan Hansen, Smith and Nelin each collected two hits.

Mason is 7-2 in the all-time series against Radford.

RADFORD SCOUTING REPORT:

Radford was 19-39 overall and finished with a record of 9-15 in the Big South Conference last season.  The Highlanders were 11-13 at home, 5-23 on the road and had a 3-3 record in neutral site games during the 2016 campaign.

The Highlanders enter the midweek series against the Patriots with a 2-9 record.  Radford defeated North Florida 8-7 on Feb. 19 to even its record at 1-1 before losing seven straight games.

Radford blanked Quinnipiac 4-0 on March 4 when senior Danny Hrbek tossed the first nine-inning no-hitter in program history.  He struck out eight and faced one batter over the minimum in just his third career start. 

Hrbek was named the Big South Pitcher of the Week on Monday.  His no-hitter was the fourth this season in NCAA Division I baseball.

In their last game, the Highlanders allowed 18 runs on 21 hits in an 18-7 loss to Wake Forest on Sunday.  The Demon Deacons scored 16 runs over the final five innings of the game.

The Highlanders have allowed seven or more runs in nine of their 11 games this season.

Sophomore Kyle Butler leads the Highlanders with a .304 average, sophomore Matt Roth leads the team with 12 hits and is second with a .293 average, while freshman Spencer Horwitz has a team-leading five RBI.


STRIKE ZONE: 

Radford head coach Joe Raccuia was an assistant coach at George Mason for four years and served as associate coach his final two years.  He was responsible for hitting and defense for the Patriots.

A 1995 Radford graduate, Raccuia is in his 10th season as the head coach of the Highlanders and is the 5th head coach in the history of the program.

In 2015, Radford set the program record for victories with a 45-16 mark, winning its first Big South regular season and conference titles to earn a trip to the NCAA Regional in Nashville, Tenn.