BASEBALL vs. William & Mary

WHEN:  Wednesday, April 26 | 3:00 p.m.                                         
WHERE:  Spuhler Field | Fairfax, Va.
RECORDS: Mason (18-23, 7-5 A-10), William & Mary (22-20, 7-5 CAA)
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason baseball team is back on the diamond for a mid-week, non-conference game on Wednesday against William & Mary with the first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. at Spuhler Field.

Mason (18-23, 7-5 A-10) earned a 1-0 walk-off victory over St. Bonaventure on Sunday, loading the bases and scoring the winning run in the bottom of the ninth. 

Sophomore Brian Marconi tossed a complete-game two-hitter, allowing just two singles.  He began the day by retiring 11 of the first 12 batters he faced and threw a first-pitch strike to 19 of the 30 batters in the contest.

The Patriots loaded the bases four times in the game before scoring the winning run in the home half of the ninth inning.  Sophomore Alejandro Aponte scored the lone run of the game on an error by the Bonnies.

Mason improved to 5-3 this season in games decided by one run.  The Patriots need one victory to equal their win total from last season.

Mason starters combined to pitch 26 of the 27 innings over three games in the series against St. Bonaventure.

Aponte went 2-for-3 and scored his 17th run of the season.  He has a hit in five of the last seven games, including four multi-hit games.  Junior Michael Smith was 1-for-3 with two walks and has now reached base safely in each of the last 10 games.  Mason had eight hits in the game, all singles.

Freshman Logan Driscoll is hitting .343 and is second on the team in RBI (23) and tied for third in hits (34).  Junior Tyler Nelin has a .307 average and leads the team in hits (47), doubles (11), home runs (8) and is tied for first in RBI (33). 

Sophomore Michael Smith is batting .281 and leads the team in runs scored (36) and is second in hits (41).  Junior Trevor Kelly is hitting .270 and is second on the team in home runs (5), tied for third in hits (34) and is tied for the team lead in RBI (33).

The Patriots have hit eight round trippers over the last nine games.  Eleven players have hit at least one home run for Mason so far this season.

The Patriots are 63-34 all-time against William & Mary.  Mason's 97 games against William & Mary are the second-most against any opponent.  The Patriots have faced James Madison 105 times.

The two teams last met April, 26-28, 2013 when both were members of the CAA.  William & Mary took two of three games in the series in Williamsburg, Va.  The Tribe won the first game 11-2 and the finale 7-1, while the Patriots won the middle game of the series 3-1.

WILLIAM & MARY SCOUTING REPORT:

William & Mary is 22-20 overall and currently in fifth place in the Colonial Athletic Association with a record of 7-5.  The Tribe are 15-5 at home, 4-15 on the road and 3-0 in neutral site games this season.

The Tribe dropped their first eight road games of the season and were outscored by a combined score of 64-30.  William & Mary has won four of its last 10 games away from home to account for all four of the team's road victories.

William & Mary slipped past UNCW 10-9 on March 26 in Wilmington, N.C., defeated Delaware 8-2 on April 1 in Newark, Del., earned a 5-1 victory at VCU on April 4 and won 11-10 at Richmond on April 18.

William & Mary swept a three-game series against James Madison this past weekend, with two walk-off one-run wins.  The Tribe defeated the Dukes 14-8 in game one, 8-7 in 10 innings in the middle game and 7-6 in the third game of the series.

The Tribe has won four of their last five games overall.  Maryland handed William & Mary a 6-0 loss on April 19.

Freshman Brandon Raquet leads the team with a .353 average and is fourth on the team in hits (42).  Junior Cullen Large is hitting .344 and leads the team in hits (56) and is tied for first in RBI (33).  He went 5-for-5 in William & Mary's 7-6 win over James Madison last time out. 

Senior Ryder Miconi has a .327 average and is tied for first on the team in RBI (33) and is tied for second on the team in hits (49) and home runs (5).  Miconi was named CAA Player of the Week after batting .409 (9-for-22) with three doubles, nine RBI and six runs scored as the Tribe went 4-1.

Junior Ryan Hall is batting .302 and is tied for second in hits (49), home runs (5) and is second on the squad in RBI (32).  Senior Charles Ameer leads the Tribe in home runs (7).

PROBABLE STARTERS: 

Mason:  RHP Bryce Nightengale (1-3, 7.92)
William & Mary:  RHP Jamie Sara (1-1, 5.28)

STRIKE ZONE: 

William & Mary finished the 2016 regular season second to UNCW in the Colonial Athletic Association.  After dropping the first game of the CAA Tournament the Tribe won four straight, including two victories over UNCW to win the CAA Tournament for the first time since 2001.

The Tribe then won two games in the NCAA Charlottesville Regional.  William & Mary fell 17-4 to Virginia and 8-4 to the eventual regional champion East Carolina, while picking up a 4-3 win over Bryant and a 5-4 victory over Virginia.

William & Mary faced elimination seven times in the conference tournament and regional combined, winning six games.