FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason baseball team scored all eight of its runs over the first three innings on the way to an 8-5 victory over Maryland on Wednesday afternoon at Spuhler Field.

Mason (14-20, 3-3 A-10) took the lead in the bottom of the first, collecting four straight two-out singles against Terrapins starter Hunter Parsons.

Freshman Logan Driscoll singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch.  Junior Trevor Kelly followed with a RBI single to left, with Driscoll scoring on the play to put Mason in front 1-0.  After Kelly moved to second on another wild pitch, junior Tyler Nelin drove in his 27th run of the season with a single to center to make the score 2-0.

"Anytime you play Maryland and get a win it's huge," said Kelly.  "We played hard today and you have to credit our defense and pitching."

The Patriots have scored at least one run in the first inning in each of their last three games after going 13 straight contests without scoring a run in the first.

The Patriots sent eight batters to the plate in the home half of the second inning, scoring five runs on five hits, chasing Parsons from the game.

With one out, junior Frank Sturek and classmate Michael Smith singled to put runners on the corners.  Sophomore Brady Acker followed with a double to left field, with Sturek coasting home from third to increase the lead to 3-0.

Driscoll then scratched out an infield single on a high chopper to the shortstop, with Smith racing across the plate to make the score 4-0.  Kelly then singled to left field, with Acker crossing the plate and Driscoll scoring on an error by the left fielder to extend the Mason lead to 6-0.  Kelly would scramble home on a wild pitch to put the Patriots up 7-0.

It's the second time in the last two days that Mason has plated seven runs in the first two innings.  The Patriots have scored a total of 27 runs in their last two games.

"It gives the pitcher a chance to settle in and relax," Mason head coach Bill Brown said.  "It is nice that we have done it two days in a row.  We'll enjoy this one today, it was a good game.  We have guys contributing in different ways and that's a good thing."

While the Patriots offense was in gear for the second time in 24 hours, senior starter Brock Hunter retired eight of the first nine batters he faced in the game.

Maryland (21-11, 6-3 BIG TEN) used a pair of two-out singles and a three-run home run in the third by sophomore Marty Costes, who hit his team-leading eighth round tripper of the season for the Terrapins, to cut the lead to 7-3.

Mason added another run in the third when freshman John Callahan was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and sophomore Alejandro Aponte reached on an error to put runners on first and second.  After Sturek moved the runners over with a sacrifice bunt, Smith drove in Callahan from third with a sacrifice fly and it was 8-3 Patriots.

Smith also flashed the leather in the game, ranging deep into the hole at shortstop and recording the final out of the fourth inning with a strong throw to first.

Maryland junior Kevin Smith led off the fifth inning with a solo home run to left field to make it an 8-4 game.  The Terrapins then used a double and a single to put runners on the corners before Mason made the call to the bullpen, with junior Ryan Ricci taking over for Hunter on the mound.

Costes, who reached base five times in the game for Maryland, then singled to right field to make it an 8-5 game.  Ricci recorded a fly out and a strikeout to end the inning.

With one out in the ninth, the Terrapins threatened when they loaded the bases with a single and two walks.  Senior Tyler Kardas entered the game and got Maryland sophomore Nick Dunn to ground into a game-ending 4-6-3 double play.

"I just wanted to pick my teammates up," Kardas said.  "A three-run game with the bases juiced, you have to find a way to get out of it."

Hunter allowed five runs on six hits over 4.1 innings in the no decision.  He struck out five and walked only one.  The Mason bullpen tossed five scoreless innings.  Ricci allowed four hits with two strikeouts in 2.0 innings. 

Senior Ryan Galvin entered the game in the seventh with runners on first and second and one out and worked out of the jam with two fly outs.  He threw 1.2 hitless innings and retired all five batters that he faced in the game.  Galvin hasn't allowed a run in his last six appearances.

Kardas turned Maryland away in the ninth to pick up the first save of his collegiate career.

"Tyler was fantastic," Brown said.  "It was a matchup, left-on-left and he won the matchup.  Let's hope that this momentum carries over and we can get on a little bit of a run."

Kelly went 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored.  Acker was 3-for-5 with a RBI and a run scored.  He has driven in six runs in the last two games.  Driscoll finished 3-for-4 with three singles, drove in a run and scored two runs. 

The top five players in the batting order for Mason combined to go 10-for-20 with seven RBI and six runs scored.  Every player in the Patriots lineup reached base at least once in the game.

The Patriots return to action on Friday when they begin a three-game Atlantic 10 Conference series at Dayton.  The first pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.