Box Score Box score
LEXINGTON, S.C. – The George Mason baseball team built a three-run lead over Butler, but fell to the Bulldogs 5-4 in 11 innings on Friday at the Lexington County Baseball Stadium in Lexington, S.C.
Mason (0-4) jumped in front in the first inning against Butler (5-0) starter Connor Mitchell. Sophomore
Logan Driscoll doubled to left field and with two outs, senior
Trevor Kelly doubled to right with Driscoll scoring on the play to give the Patriots a 1-0 lead.
The Patriots increased the advantage in the top of the fourth. Junior
Tim Quinn singled and scored when classmate
Ryan Tassone drove in his first run of the season with a double to right field to make the score 2-0.
Mason starter
Zach Mort retired the first 12 batters he faced in the game, including seven strikeouts. It's the second straight start that Mort has retired the first dozen batters of the game.
The Bulldogs registered their first hit of the day when senior Michael Hartnagel led off with a single in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, freshman James Gargano double to left, with Hartnagel racing around to score to cut the Mason lead to 2-1.
Facing Butler reliever Kevin Napoleon, the Patriots tacked on a pair of runs in the top of the seventh. Junior
Alejandro Aponte led off the inning with a single up the middle and moved to second when senior
Michael Smith dropped down a sacrifice bunt.
After Mason junior
Brady Acker was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second, Driscoll drove in Aponte with a double down the right field line to pad the Patriots lead to 3-1. Driscoll then advanced to third on a fielder's choice and with two outs he raced home on a wild pitch to make the score 4-1.
Butler used four singles against Mort in the bottom of the seventh to tie the score 4-4. Bulldogs junior Connor Dall drove in a run while senior Garrett Christman, who was the BIG EAST Player of the Week last week, added a two-RBI single to tie the game.
Mason senior
Saul Aguilera entered the game in relief and retired the next two batters to end the inning. He struck out two and didn't allow a baserunner in his appearance.
Senior
Timothy Turner took over on the mound in the ninth with a runner on second and ended the inning with a pop out.
The Bulldogs again had a chance in the 10th. After a leadoff walk and a one-out single put runners on first and second, Turner got the ground ball he was looking for as the Patriots defense turned the inning-ending double play.
Bulldogs reliever Josh Walker retired 11 of the 13 Mason batters he faced from the seventh through the 10th before turning the game over to left-hander John MacCauley.
The Patriots threatened in the 11th against MacCauley. Singles by Aponte and freshman
Scott Morgan put runners on first and second. With two outs, Aponte was thrown out at third to end the inning.
With one out in the bottom of the 11th inning, the Bulldogs used an infield single, a walk and a Mason error to load the bases. Christman provided the big hit when he swung at the first pitch he saw and singled to right to drive in the winning run in the Bulldogs 5-4 walk-off victory. Christman drove in three runs while Hartnagel scored three times in the game for Butler.
Driscoll went 3-for-4 with a walk, RBI and two runs scored. He has hit safely in each of the first four games of the season. Aponte was 2-for-5 and scored a run, while Tassone and Kelly each drove in a run.
Mort allowed four runs on six hits over 6.1 innings. He struck out 10 without a walk. Aguilera tossed 2.1 hitless innings, while Turner (0-2) surrendered one run on three hits in 1.2 innings of work. MacCauley (2-0) pitched one inning to pick up the win for Butler.
The Patriots are back on the diamond for a doubleheader against Butler on Saturday. The first pitch for game one scheduled for 11 a.m. at Lexington County Baseball Stadium in Lexington, S.C.
