DAYTON, Ohio – The George Mason baseball team won its third straight game, downing Dayton 7-1 in the first of a three-game Atlantic 10 series on Friday afternoon at Spectrum Stadium in Dayton, Ohio.

Mason (15-20, 4-3 A-10) took the lead in the first inning against Dayton (10-22, 1-5 A-10) starter Austin Cline.  With one out, sophomore Brady Acker reached on a fielding error by the third baseman and freshman Logan Driscoll followed with a single to put runners on the corners.

Junior Trevor Kelly then hit sacrifice fly to right to drive in his 26th run of the season, with Acker crossing the plate to put the Patriots in front 1-0. 

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

Mason sent nine batters to the plate in the top of the third and scored four runs on four hits to take control of the game.

Junior Michael Smith struck out to begin the inning, but reached first base when the ball eluded the catcher and went to the backstop.  Smith would advance to second on a wild pitch and with one out, the Patriots collected four straight hits.

Driscoll singled up the middle to put runners on first and third and Kelly picked up his second RBI of the game when he lined a single to center, with Smith scoring from third and Driscoll racing all the way around from first on a throwing error on the play to increase the lead to 3-0. 

Junior Tyler Nelin continued the inning when he laced his team-leading 10th double of the season to left field, with Kelly cruising home to make it a 4-0 game.  Sophomore Tim Quinn kept the inning going with a RBI single to left-center, with Nelin rumbling around from second to score and extend the Mason lead to 5-0.

"We scored early again today and gave ourselves a good cushion by the third," Mason head coach Bill Brown said.  "When you can separate yourself early and you have Zombro on the mound pounding the strike zone, it's a really good combination."

The Patriots have scored 24 runs over the first three innings and 34 total runs during their season-high three-game winning streak.

Mason added a run in the fourth.  Smith was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, went to second on a ground out and moved to third on the third wild pitch of the game by Cline.  Driscoll delivered a RBI single up the middle, with Smith scoring his team-leading 31st run of the season to extend to the advantage to 6-0.

The Patriots used three singles in the fifth to tack on another run.  Freshman John Callahan lined a one-out single to center and with two outs in the inning, Smith hit a base knock to left to plate Callahan and it was 7-0.

The lead was more than enough for Mason starter Tyler Zombro, who allowed just two singles and four total baserunners over the first four innings.

"I feel really good and the big thing is the defense is playing well and that allows me the ability to just throw the ball over the plate," Zombro said.  "In my last few starts we have had plenty of double plays and for our offense to come out early like that and give me some runs, it allowed me to relax and throw strikes."

Dayton plated its lone run of the game in the bottom of the ninth against junior Saul Aguilera, when freshman Tate Hagan led off with a double and scored on a RBI groundout.

Mason has won the first game in all three of its conference series this season.  Dayton has been outscored 41-20 during its five-game losing streak.  The Flyers have been outscored 66-30 in their seven conference games this season.

Zombro (4-3) tossed 7.0 scoreless innings for his career-best fourth straight win.  He allowed five hits and struck out four with just one walk in the outing.   Zombro has gone at least seven innings in each of his last four starts. 

Kelly went 3-for-4 with two RBI and scored a run and he has driven in five runs in the last two games.  Driscoll finished 3-for-4 with a RBI and a run scored.  Driscoll has back-to-back three-hit games and is 7-for-14 in three games this week.  Smith was 3-for-5 with a double and a pair of singles, scored two runs and drove in a run.

Sophomore Alejandro Aponte recorded the first four-hit game of his collegiate career, going 4-for-5 with four singles.

Mason had at least one hit in every inning against the Flyers.  The Patriots collected 16 hits with 14 singles and two doubles.  The 16 hits are the second-most by the Patriots in a game this season.  Mason had 17 hits in a 21-1 win over VMI on Feb. 19 at Brooks Field in Wilmington, N.C.

The Patriots improved to 5-6 on the road this season, matching their road win total from the 2016 campaign when Mason finished 5-18 away from home.

"We believe in ourselves and that's part of the team as it matures," said Brown.  "We are young, but experienced and that experience is starting to pay off.  We have a chance to make tomorrow a great day for us."

With the forecast calling for inclement weather for Sunday, the Patriots and Flyers will play a doubleheader on Saturday, April 15 to conclude the series.  The first pitch for game one is scheduled for 12 p.m. at Spectrum Stadium.