BASEBALL vs. Towson

WHEN:  Tuesday, April 4 | 3 p.m.           
WHERE:  Spuhler Field | Fairfax, Va.
RECORDS: Mason (10-17, 2-1 A-10), Towson (9-14, 0-3 CAA)
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS
 
BASEBALL at James Madison

WHEN:  Wednesday, April 5 | 6 p.m.
WHERE:  Veterans Memorial Park | Harrisonburg, Va.
RECORDS: Mason (10-17, 2-1 A-10), James Madison (16-10, 2-4 CAA)
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason baseball team continues its busy stretch with a pair of midweek games against former Colonial Athletic Association opponents. 

The Patriots host Towson on Tuesday, April 4 at Spuhler Field with the first pitch slated for 3 p.m. and travel to face James Madison under the lights on Wednesday, April 5 at Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Park with the first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.

Mason (10-17, 2-1 A-10) dropped the final game of its series against Georgetown, with the Hoyas defeating the Patriots 4-2 on Sunday afternoon at Spuhler Field to take two of the three games in the series.

Sophomore starter Zach Mort retired the first nine batters he faced in the game before the Hoyas took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth with three straight hits.  Mort allowed three runs, two earned, on seven hits over 7.0 innings in his fifth start of the season.  He struck out six and didn't walk a batter in the outing.

The Patriots threatened in the bottom of the fifth but couldn't push a run across the plate.  With two outs, sophomore Ryan Tassone collected the first hit of the game for Mason when he tripled off the top of the left field fence, just missing a home run.

Georgetown scored two runs in the sixth to extend the lead to 3-0 and a single run in the ninth to make the score 4-0.

Mason rallied in the home half of the ninth inning when junior Tyler Nelin singled and advanced to second base on a wild pitch.  Junior Trevor Kelly then doubled to left field, with Nelin scoring to cut the Hoyas lead to 4-1.

With two outs in the ninth, Tassone singled to left-center, with Kelly rumbling around from second to make it a 4-2 game and bring the tying run to the plate, but that's as close as Mason would get.

Tassone went 2-for-4 with his first triple of the season and drove in a run.  Kelly was 1-for-4 with a RBI and scored a run.  Nelin finished 1-for-4 with a run scored.  The Patriots had at least one baserunner in every inning.

Sophomore Tim Quinn is batting .320 in 11 games played.  Kelly is hitting .314 and is second on the team in home runs (4) and third on the team in RBI (18).  He has at least one hit in seven of his last eight games (9-for-29).

Sophomore Michael Smith has a .299 average and leads the team in runs scored (23) and is second in hits (29).  He has at least one hit in eight of his last nine games (11-for-36). 

Nelin is hitting .295 and leads the team in hits (31), doubles (9), home runs (6) and RBI (22).  He has at least one hit in four of his last five games (6-for-19).

The Patriots have hit 22 home runs over the first 27 games of the season.  Mason has at least one round tripper in 11 of the last 14 games.  Nine players have hit at least one home run for the Patriots so far this season.

Mason is 7-10 at home, 1-4 on the road and 2-3 in neutral site games this season.

TOWSON SCOUTING REPORT:

Towson went 20-35 overall last season and finished 10-14 in the CAA.  The Tigers were 12-10 at home, 6-25 on the road and 2-0 in neutral site games during the 2016 campaign.

The Patriots have an all-time record of 44-39-1 against Towson, including winning both meetings last season.

The Patriots scored seven runs in the fifth inning and earned a 10-3 win over the Tigers in the first meeting last year on April 6, 2016 at Spuhler Field.  Nelin went 4-for-5 and seven players scored at least one run for Mason.  Towson stranded a season-high 14 baserunners and left the bases loaded three times in the contest.

In the second meeting, the Tigers led 9-1 after three innings but the Patriots erased the eight-run deficit on the way to an 11-10 win at Schuerholz Park in Towson, Md. on May 17, 2016.  It was the biggest comeback win of the season for the Patriots. 

Mason scored 11 runs on 15 hits in the game and seven different players scored a run for the Patriots.  Bailey Klein hit two home runs in the game.

Towson (9-14, 0-3 CAA) began the 2017 season with eight wins in the first 11 games, including a sweep against Wagner.  Since March 17, the Tigers have recorded just one win in their last 12 games, with the lone victory 7-5 against Coppin State at John Schuerholz Park on March 29. 

The Tigers were swept in a two-game series at Virginia March 21-22 and dropped all three games at East Carolina March 24-26. 

Towson was swept at home in a three-game series this past weekend by Northeastern.  The Tigers fell by final scores of 5-2, 7-5 and 5-3 to the Huskies.

Sophomore Richard Miller is batting .292 and is third on the team with 19 hits.  Senior A.J. Gallo has a .274 average and is second on the team in hits (20) and tied for second on the squad in doubles (5).  Sophomore Richie Palacios is hitting .256 and leads the team in hits (23) and is tied for the team lead in RBI (11).

The Tigers have hit only seven home runs over their first 23 games of the season.

STRIKE ZONE: 

Ryan Tassone hit his first collegiate home run against Towson, a two-run blast in Mason's 11-10 win over the Tigers on May 17, 2016 at John Schuerholz Park.

JAMES MADISON SCOUTING REPORT:

James Madison went 24-31 overall last season and finished 13-10 in the CAA.  The Dukes were 13-13 at home, 10-16 on the road and 1-2 in neutral site games during the 2016 campaign.

Mason swept two games against James Madison last season.  The Patriots picked up their first road win of the season, defeating the Dukes 16-5 on March 23, 2016 at Veterans Memorial Park in Harrisonburg, Va.  The Patriots scored 16 runs on 16 hits and every player in the starting lineup reached base at least once in the game.

The Patriots then needed extra innings to down the Dukes 6-5 in 11 at Spuhler Field on April 29, 2016.

The Dukes (16-10, 2-4 CAA) won eight of their first 10 games of the 2017 season, scoring at least 11 runs in a game five times in the eight victories. 

James Madison will enter Wednesday's matchup with the Patriots looking to snap a five-game losing streak.  The Dukes have been outscored by a combined score of 35-6 and have been held to two or fewer runs in each game.

The Dukes were defeated by Delaware 10-2, fell to VMI 6-1 and this past weekend were swept in a three-game series at Elon University.  The Phoenix recorded 7-1, 9-2 and 3-0 wins over James Madison.

Freshman Fox Semones is hitting .378 in 16 games played.  Junior Adam Sisk has a .347 average and leads the Dukes in hits (33), runs scored (35) and is third on the team in RBI (22).  Junior Josh Wyatt is batting .338 and is fourth on the team in hits (24) and tied for third in home runs (4).

STRIKE ZONE: 

Mason is 51-63 all-time against James Madison.  The Patriots have faced James Madison more than any other team in program history.