Patriots Visit Dayton for Atlantic 10 Series

Baseball 4/13/2017 6:54:00 PM

FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason baseball team is on the road for the second straight weekend, facing the Flyers in a three-game Atlantic 10 Conference series beginning Friday at Spectrum Stadium in Dayton, Ohio.

Mason (14-20, 3-3 A-10) won its second straight game with an 8-5 victory over Maryland on Wednesday at Spuhler Field.

The Patriots scored all eight runs over the first three innings against the Terrapins. Mason took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, scored five runs in the second and added a single run in the third.

The Patriots have scored at least one run in the first inning in each of their last three games and have plated seven runs over the first two innings in each of the last two games.

Mason has scored a total of 27 runs in their last two contests, with 11 different players crossing the plate at least once.

Senior starter Brock Hunter retired eight of the first nine batters he faced in the game against Maryland and struck out five batters over 4.1 innings in a no-decision, while the Mason bullpen tossed five scoreless innings.

Junior Ryan Ricci allowed four hits with two strikeouts over 2.0 innings and senior Ryan Galvin retired all five batters that he faced in 1.2 innings of work. Galvin hasn't allowed a run in his last six appearances.

Senior Tyler Kardas recorded a game-ending double play with the bases loaded in the ninth against the Terrapins to pick up his first NCAA save.

Mason relievers have allowed only four runs over 21.0 innings in the last six games. The bullpen has surrendered just two runs over the last 19 innings pitched.

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

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

Driscoll is batting .333 and is third on the team in RBI (20) and is tied for fifth in hits (26). Sophomore Tim Quinn has a .313 average and is tied for fifth on the team in doubles (4).

Junior Tyler Nelin is batting .278 and leads the team in hits (35), home runs (7), doubles (8) and RBI (27). Kelly is hitting .289 and is third on the team in hits (28), second in RBI (25) and tied for second in home runs (4). Junior Michael Smith has a .264 average and leads the team in runs scored (29) and is second on the squad in hits (32).

Mason has hit seven home runs in the last 10 games, including four at Mount St. Mary's in a 19-4 win on April 11 in Emmitsburg, Md. Ten players have hit at least one home run for the Patriots so far this season.

The Patriots have won four of the seven meetings in the all-time series against the Flyers.

The two teams met last season at Spuhler Field, with Dayton winning two-of-three games in the series April 8-10, 2016. The Flyers recorded a 9-2 win in game one, the Patriots won the second game 8-2 and Dayton claimed the finale 9-6.

In Mason's only visit to Dayton, the Patriots faced the Flyers in conference action during the final weekend of the regular season May 15-17, 2014. Mason won the first two games of the three-game set 8-5 and 9-1, while Dayton took game three 2-1.

DAYTON SCOUTING REPORT:

Dayton is 10-21 overall and 1-5 against Atlantic 10 opponents. The Flyers have a record of 6-5 at home, 2-13 on the road and 2-3 in neutral sites games this season.

The Flyers have dropped four straight games and 10 of their last 12 overall. Dayton has been outscored by a combined score of 34-19 during the four-game slide.

Last time out, the Flyers fell 7-6 in 11 innings at Miami (Ohio) University, as the Redhawks swept a two-game set.

Dayton won its first conference game of the season, scoring two runs in the bottom of the eighth for a 6-5 victory over Richmond at Woerner Field in Dayton on March 24. The Spiders rebounded to win the final two games of the series 10-5 and 11-1.

The Flyers were swept in a three-game series by St. Bonaventure April 1-2, with the Bonnies winning 9-0, 6-4 and 18-14 at Fred Handler Park in Olean, N.Y.

Dayton has been outscored 59-30 in the first six conference games of the season.

Overall, the Flyers have allowed at least seven runs in a game in 18 of 31 contests this season, while being held to three runs or less 13 times including three shutouts.

Senior Brad Burkhart has a .371 average in 16 games played and has a seven-game hitting streak. Freshman Tate Hagan is batting .268 and leads the team in RBI (18) and is second in both hits (26) and home runs (3). Sophomore Connor Echols is hitting .266 and leads the Flyers in hits (33) and is second in RBI (17).

PROBABLE STARTERS:

Friday: RHP Tyler Zombro (3-3, 2.10) vs. RHP Austin Cline (2-4, 6.35)
Saturday: RHP Zach Mort (1-4, 5.19) vs. LHP Tyler Henry (2-1, 4.10)
Sunday: LHP Brian Marconi (3-4, 5.68) vs. LHP Mason Kutruff (2-4, 6.48)

STRIKE ZONE:

The Patriots scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning to defeat the Flyers 4-3 in the opening game of the Atlantic 10 Tournament on May 21, 2014 in St. Louis, Mo.

Mason went 4-0 to claim the A-10 Tournament title, also recording a win over Saint Joseph's and two against VCU to advance to the Houston Regional in the NCAA Tournament.

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