RICHMOND, Va. – The George Mason baseball team had at least one baserunner in every inning, winning its second straight game in the series against Richmond with a 12-3 victory on Saturday afternoon at Pitt Field in Richmond, Va.

Mason (20-24, 9-5 A-10) took advantage of a mistake in the first inning to take the lead against Spiders starter Keenan Bartlett.  Junior Michael Smith reached on an error by the second baseman to start the game and classmate Frank Sturek followed with a walk.  The runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch.

Freshman Logan Driscoll drove in Smith from third with a ground out to put the Patriots in front 1-0 and with two outs, sophomore Greg Popatak II doubled to center field with Sturek racing home to make the score 2-0. 

Smith has now scored a run in the first inning in four of the last eight games from the leadoff spot.  The Patriots have scored at least one run in the first inning in eight of the last 13 games.

Mason broke the game open in the third, sending eight batters to the plate and scoring four runs on four hits.

Mason loaded the bases with one out in the top of the third when Sturek singled to center, junior Tyler Nelin walked and Popatak singled to right.

Sturek scrambled home on a wild pitch to increase the advantage to 3-0.  Junior Trevor Kelly then drove in a pair of runs with a single up the middle to extend the lead to 5-0 and freshman John Callahan knocked in a run with a sacrifice bunt to make it a 6-0 game.  Kelly has driven in 16 runs in his last 11 games.

In the top of the fourth, Smith singled and Sturek walked for the second time in the game to put runners on first and second with no outs.  After a pitching change by the Spiders, Nelin drove in Smith from second with a one-out single up the middle to make it 7-0 Mason.  Sturek then scored from third on a sacrifice fly by Popatak to give the Patriots an 8-0 lead.

Richmond (14-26, 5-9 A-10) got on the scoreboard in the home half of the fifth against Mason starter Zach Mort with a single and RBI double to make the score 8-1.  Mort allowed just three singles over the first four innings.

The Patriots added two runs in the sixth.  Driscoll led off with a double and Nelin followed with a single to put runners on first and third with no outs.   Driscoll rumbled home on a passed ball and Nelin would later score on a sacrifice fly by Kelly to make it 10-1 Mason.

The Spiders scored two runs on three hits in the bottom of the seventh to cut the lead to 10-3.  The Patriots got the runs back in the top of the ninth when Sturek hit his first home run as a Patriot, belting a two-run homer over the left field fence for the 12-3 final score.

Mort (3-4) allowed three runs on nine hits in 7.0 innings to win his third game of the season.  Freshman Jared DiCesare allowed one hit over two scoreless innings in relief.  Junior Keenan Bartlett (0-1) took the loss for the Spiders, surrendering eight runs, six earned, on seven hits in 3.0 innings.  Richmond used six pitchers in the game.

Sturek went 2-for-4 with a homer, two RBI and scored four runs.  Popatak finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored.  Kelly was 1-for-4 with three RBI, while sophomore Brady Acker went 3-for-4 with three singles and a walk.

With the win, Mason improved to 6-2 on the road against conference opponents.  It's the seventh time this season the Patriots have scored 10 or more runs in a game.

The Patriots had at least one hit in every inning except the eighth and a baserunner in every inning in the contest.  Seven players scored at least one run and six players drove in at least one run for Mason in the game.

The final game of the series is Sunday at Pitt Field with the first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m.