Photo Credit:  Bill Barrett/Atlantic 10 Conference

CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
BRACKET

ST. LOUIS, MO. – The seventh-seeded George Mason baseball team built a two-run lead over No. 6 seed Davidson on Thursday morning, but fell to the Wildcats 6-3 on the second day at the Atlantic 10 Championship at the Billiken Sports Center in St. Louis, Mo.

The Patriots will face an elimination game in the A-10 Tournament for the first time in program history, taking on fifth-seeded Saint Louis on Thursday evening with the first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. ET.

Mason (26-32) took the lead against Davidson (29-23) starter Evan Roberts in the top of the second inning.  Junior Trevor Kelly led off with a double and classmate Tyler Nelin followed with a triple to center field to put the Patriots in front 1-0.

The Wildcats answered in the bottom of the second against Mason starter Zach Mort, when sophomore Justin Lebek drew a leadoff walk and scored later in the inning on a RBI single by freshman Brett Centracchio to even the score 1-1.

In the top of the fourth, the Patriots regained the advantage.  Freshman Logan Driscoll led off the inning with a single and Kelly belted a two-run home run over the left field fence to give Mason a 3-1 edge.

After Kelly's home run, Roberts retired 14 of the next 15 Mason batters he faced from the fourth through the eighth inning.

Davidson again responded in the bottom of the inning.  With two runners on and two outs, junior Alec Acosta hit his second home run of the tournament, a three-run shot to left field to make it 4-3 Wildcats. 

Davidson added single runs in both the seventh and eighth innings against relievers Brock Hunter and Ryan Galvin for the 6-3 final.  The Wildcats scored five of their six runs in the game with two outs.

Mort (3-7) allowed four runs on seven hits over 6.0 innings and took the loss.  He struck out seven and walked two batters.  Hunter surrendered two unearned runs in 1.1 innings of work, while Galvin allowed a hit in 0.2 innings.

Roberts (3-1) allowed three runs on five hits and struck out eight over 7.2 innings to earn the win for Davidson.  Senior Westin Whitmire recorded three fly outs in the ninth to pick up his 11th save of the season.

Kelly went 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored.  He had a double and a home run to extend his hitting streak to 17 games.  Driscoll finished 2-for-3 and scored a run.  Nelin was 1-for-3 with his first triple of the season and a walk.

The No. 7 Patriots take on No. 5 Saint Louis in an elimination game on Thursday night with the first pitch slated for 6 p.m. (Eastern).