FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason baseball team earned a split of its two-game midweek series against Radford, scoring four runs in the bottom of the fourth on the way to a 6-4 win over the Highlanders on Wednesday afternoon at Spuhler Field in Fairfax, Va.

Mason (5-8) fell behind in the first inning for the third straight game when Radford (3-10) sent seven batters to the plate and scored two runs against senior starter Brock Hunter. 

Highlander's sophomore Adam Whitacre drew a leadoff walk and senior Danny Hrbek followed with a single to put runners on first and second with no outs.  Senior Jonathan Gonzalez then drove in both runners with a double to the gap in right-center field to put Radford in front 2-0.

After the first four Radford batters of the game reached base, Hunter limited the damage when he recorded a strikeout and two ground outs to end the inning.

The Patriots answered quickly in the home half of the inning.  Sophomore Michael Smith reached on a wild pitch and would eventually score when freshman Logan Driscoll singled up the middle to cut the lead to 2-1.

A single by junior Trevor Kelly put runners on first and second and a fielder's choice moved the runners over.  With two outs in the inning, sophomore Brady Acker scratched out an infield single, with Driscoll rumbling home from third to tie the game 2-2.

Both teams sent seven batters to the plate in the first inning and scored two runs on three hits.

Radford reclaimed the lead in the top of the third.  Sophomore Mike Roth singled with one out and classmate Kyle Butler followed with a double down the left field line, with Roth racing around from first to give the Highlanders a 3-2 edge.

The Patriots took control of the game in the fourth, sending nine batters to the plate and scoring four unearned runs on three singles, a walk, a hit batter and an error. 

Freshman Jared DiCesare reached base on a fielding error by the shortstop to start the inning, but Radford starter Andrew Nardi then retired the next two batters he faced.  With two outs, five straight Mason batters reached base.

Smith was hit by a pitch, with DiCesare moving to second.  Junior Tyler Nelin then sizzled a line drive single to center to drive in DiCesare to tie the score 3-3.  Driscoll followed with a RBI single to right field, with Smith coasting home to give Mason a 4-3 advantage.

After a walk to Kelly, sophomore Greg Popatak II drove in two runs with a single to center to pad the lead to 6-3.

The leadoff hitter for Mason reached base in each of the first four innings of the game.

With the Patriots out in front, Hunter and three relievers did the rest.  After allowing the first four Radford batters of the contest to reach base, Hunter retired 13 of the next 17 hitters he faced before turning the game over to the bullpen.

Hunter (1-1) allowed three runs on six hits over 5.0 innings to earn his first win as a Patriot.  He struck out five and walked just two in his second start of the season.  After freshman Jakob Ryan pitched two-thirds of an inning in his third appearance of the season, junior Timothy Turner entered and didn't allow a hit over 1.1 innings of work.

Senior Tyler Tobin tossed 2.0 scoreless innings to pick up his first save of the season and ninth career. 

Driscoll went 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored.  He leads the team with 14 RBI.  Nelin was 2-for-5 and drove in his 13th run of the season.  Popatak finished 1-for-3 with two RBI, while Smith reached base twice and scored both times.  He's tied for the team lead with 15 runs scored this season. 

Sophomore Alejandro Aponte was 2-for-4 with two singles.  Every player in the starting lineup reached base and seven players had at least one hit in the game for Mason.

A day after collecting just one hit with runners in scoring position in a loss to Radford, Mason went 5-for-12 (.417) with runners in scoring position in the 6-4 victory on Wednesday.

The Patriots continue their season-long eight-game homestand on Friday, hosting Cornell in game one of a three-game series with the first pitch scheduled for 2:30 p.m.