BASEBALL at Towson

WHEN:  Tuesday, May 2 | 3:00 p.m.                 
WHERE:  Schuerholz Park | Towson, Md.
RECORDS: Mason (21-24, 10-5 A-10), Towson (16-25, 4-11 CAA)
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason baseball team wraps up its two-game season series against the Tigers on Tuesday at Schuerholz Park in Towson, Md. with the first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m.

Mason (21-24, 10-5 A-10) completed a three-game sweep over the Spiders with a 4-3 victory on Sunday afternoon at Pitt Field in Richmond, Va.

Richmond went in front 1-0 in the first inning, but the Patriots responded in the top of the second when they scored a run on an error, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly to take a 3-1 lead.

After collecting two singles in the first, the Spiders didn't have another baserunner against sophomore Brian Marconi until the fifth inning, as the Mason lefty retired 12 in a row with four strikeouts. 

Marconi allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits over 7.0 innings to earn his fifth win of the season.  Senior Tyler Tobin recorded the final out to pick up his second save of the series and third of the season.

Mason starters combined to pitch 21 of the 27 innings against Richmond in the series after tossing 26 of 27 innings last weekend against St. Bonaventure.

The Patriots head into the week in fourth place in the Atlantic 10, trailing only VCU, Rhode Island and St. Bonaventure.

Junior Frank Sturek was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Week on Monday after batting .467 (7-for-15) with two home runs, four walks and two stolen bases.  He had three multi-hit games during the week, going 3-for-3 against William & Mary, 2-for-4 and 2-for-5 at Richmond.

Sturek hit a home run in back-to-back games against the Spiders, his first two home runs as a Patriot.  He scored seven runs during the week, including a season-high four runs in a 12-3 win against Richmond on April 29.

Freshman Logan Driscoll leads the team with a .342 average and is third in RBI (29) and fourth in hits (40).  Junior Tyler Nelin is hitting .298 and leads the team in hits (50), home runs (8) and doubles (12). 

Junior Trevor Kelly is batting .289 and leads the team in RBI (38), is second in home runs (5) and third in hits (41).  Junior Michael Smith has a .270 average and is second on the team in hits (41) and doubles (10).  Smith leads the Atlantic 10 with 40 runs scored.

The Patriots have hit a home run in three straight contests and have at least one round tripper in 11 of their last 12 games.  Mason has had 12 players hit at least one home run this season.

The Patriots improved to 7-3 in games decided by a single run.  Mason has a 7-2 record on the road against Atlantic 10 opponents.  The Patriots are now 10-7 overall on the road and have doubled their road win total from last season when they finished 5-18 away from home.

Mason has a 44-40-1 all-time record against Towson, but the Tigers have won 12 of the last 18 (12-5-1) meetings between the two teams.  In the first meeting this season, the Tigers scored 10 runs in the first inning and built a 14-0 lead on the way to a 14-2 win over the Patriots on April 14 at Spuhler Field. 

Last season, Mason erased an eight-run deficit for an 11-10 win at Schuerholz Park on May 17, 2016.  It was the largest comeback win for the Patriots during the 2016 season.

TOWSON SCOUTING REPORT:

The Tigers are 16-25 overall and 4-11 against Colonial Athletic Association opponents.  Towson is 9-9 at home, 7-14 on the road and 0-2 in neutral site games this season.

Towson has dropped eight of its last 10 games, with seven of the losses by five runs or more.  The Tigers have been outscored by a combined score of 77-32 over their last 10 contests.  Towson has been held to four or fewer runs eight times, while allowing at least eight runs in a game six times over the last 10 outings.

The Tigers lost two of three to William & Mary this past weekend at Schuerholz Park, falling 12-3 in the first game of the series and 8-1 in the finale, while recording a 7-1 win in the middle game.  Towson is 4-8 in its last dozen games at home.

Sophomore Richie Palacios leads the team in average (.340), hits (55), doubles (12), runs scored (34) and stolen bases (13) and is second in RBI (23).  Sophomore Richard Miller is hitting .304, leads the team in RBI (27) and is second on the squad in hits (42) and triples (3). 

PROBABLE STARTERS: 

 RHP Bryce Nightengale (1-3, 7.75) vs. RHP Alex Cuas (1-3, 7.91)

STRIKE ZONE: 

There are 46 four-year colleges or universities that use the nickname Tigers, the second-most used in college sports, only behind the nickname Eagles (76).

The Patriots and Tigers played to a 13-13 tie at Towson on April. 8, 2015 in a game that was ended due to darkness.  Mason tied the score with a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth in a game that featured 31 hits between the two teams.  It was the first tie for Mason since an 8-8 deadlock against Richmond in 2011.