BASEBALL at Richmond

WHEN:  Friday, April 28 | 3:00 p.m.    
              Saturday, April 29 | 1:00 p.m.
              Sunday, April 30 | 12:00 p.m.                                     
WHERE:  Pitt Field | Richmond, Va.
RECORDS: Mason (18-24, 7-5 A-10), Richmond (14-24, 5-7 A-10)
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason baseball team is on the road to face Atlantic 10 rival Richmond in a three-game conference series beginning Friday at Pitt Field in Richmond, Va.

Mason (18-24, 7-5 A-10) rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie William & Mary, but fell 4-2 in the non-conference matchup when the Tribe scored single runs in the eighth and ninth innings on Wednesday at Spuhler Field. The Patriots collected 13 hits in the contest, all singles.

Freshman Logan Driscoll and junior Michael Smith each drove in a run for the Patriots.

Sophomore Bryce Nightengale allowed two runs on two hits over three innings of work.  The Patriots used seven pitchers, who allowed just six hits.  Freshman Jakob Ryan pitched two scoreless innings, senior Tyler Tobin and junior Timothy Turner each tossed one scoreless inning. 

Senior Tyler Kardas (1-1) took the loss, allowing a run, a hit and a walk in one inning.  Freshman Jared DiCesare allowed one run, while senior Ryan Galvin finished out the game.

Offensively, all nine batters in the lineup recorded a hit for the Patriots.  Junior Frank Sturek went 3-for-3 with three singles, sophomore Alejandro Aponte and Driscoll each had two hits.

The Patriots have hit eight round trippers over the last 10 games.  Eleven players have hit at least one home run for Mason this season.

Mason is 32-55-1 all-time against Richmond.  On March 9, 2011, the Patriots and Spiders game ended knotted 8-8 in the tenth inning due to darkness.

The Patriots took two of three from the Spiders last season at Spuhler Field.  Mason won the first game of the series 3-2 on April 29, 2016 and then split a doubleheader on April 30, 2016, dropping game one 10-1 before earning a 1-0 win in the nightcap.

The two teams last met in Richmond March 21-22, 2015.  The Spiders swept a doubleheader from the Patriots, 10-6 and 8-1, while Mason recorded a 5-1 win in the series finale.

The Patriots are 4-2 on the road this season against A-10 foes.  Mason dropped two of three at St. Joseph's and then swept a three-game series at Dayton.  The Patriots have scored 33 runs and allowed 23 in the six road games against conference opponents.

RICHMOND SCOUTING REPORT:

The Spiders are 14-24 overall and 5-7 against Atlantic 10 opponents.  Richmond is 9-12 at home, 4-11 on the road and 1-1 in neutral site games this season.

Richmond has lost nine of its last 12 games, with four of the losses by a single run.  The Spiders have been outscored by a combined score of 83-66 over their last dozen games.

The Spiders have played four Atlantic 10 series, dropping two of three games in three of the four.  George Washington, Rhode Island and St. Joseph's took two of three games from the Spiders, while Richmond won two of three in its series at Dayton.

Junior Vinny Capra leads the Spiders in average (.371), hits (56) and is second in doubles (11) and runs scored (33).  Junior Daniel Brumbaugh is second on the team in average (.333) and RBI (29) and leads the team in home runs (4) and triples (4).  Jonathan De Marte is batting .324 and leads the team in RBI (30) and doubles (14) and is third in hits (48).

MASON PROBABLE STARTERS: 

Friday:  RHP Tyler Zombro (4-4, 1.87)
Saturday:  RHP Zach Mort (2-4, 5.40)
Sunday:  LHP Brian Marconi (4-4, 5.11)

STRIKE ZONE: 

Richmond is the only four-year university in the nation to have the nickname of Spiders.  The most-used nicknames by four-year colleges are Eagles (76), Tigers (46) and Bulldogs (40).