Box Score

• Brady Acker went 4-for-4 with a grand slam, a two-run home run and seven RBI.
• Tyler Nelin was 3-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored.
• Greg Popatak II finished 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI.

Box score

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Mason junior Brady Acker hit two home runs, including a grand slam and drove in a career-high seven runs as the Patriots defeated La Salle 15-4 to complete a three-game sweep over the Explorers on Saturday afternoon at DeVincent Field in Philadelphia, Pa.

Mason (26-25, 16-8 A-10) sent 11 batters to the plate and took the lead in the second against La Salle (14-41, 4-20 A-10) starter Matt Patricio.

Junior Greg Popatak II led off the inning with a walk and senior Michael Smith followed with a double.  After freshman Daniel Brooks reached on a fielder's choice, junior Alejandro Aponte reached on an error by the right fielder with Smith scoring to put the Patriots in front 1-0.

Mason graduate student Frank Sturek drove in a run with an infield single, with Brooks crossing the plate to make it 2-0.

The inning continued when senior Tyler Nelin walked to load the bases.  Acker then hit a towering blast over the left field fence for his first career grand slam to increase the lead to 6-0.  In his second at bat of the inning, Popatak knocked in the final run of the frame with a single to extend the lead to 7-0.

The Patriots sent eight batters to the plate in the third and scored three runs on three hits.  Nelin drove in two runs with a double to left field and Acker followed with a RBI double to increase the Mason lead to 10-0.

In the fourth, Smith was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and scored on a one-out RBI-double by Aponte.  Nelin then collected a two-out RBI-single with Aponte racing home with the second run on the inning.

Acker followed with his second home run of the game, a two-run blast over the left field fence to make the score 14-0.

La Salle got on the board in the home half of the fourth against Mason starter Jared DiCesare.  Explorers junior Ben Faso was hit by a pitch and with two outs, sophomore Ryan Guckin doubled to right field to make it 14-1.

The Explorers added a single run in the sixth against Mason freshman Michael Yuille.

The Patriots tacked on a run in the top of the seventh when Popatak homered for the second straight game with a solo blast to left to increase the lead to 15-2. 

La Salle scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh against Mason senior Timothy Turner to make the score 15-4.

DiCesare (6-5) allowed one run on two hits and struck out four over 5.0 innings to earn his team-leading sixth win of the season.  Senior Garett Driscoll pitched a scoreless eighth, while classmate Ryan Ricci tossed a scoreless ninth for the Patriots.
 
Acker went 4-for-4 with a grand slam, a two-run homer and a career-high seven RBI.  Nelin was 3-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored.  Aponte finished 2-for-5 with a RBI and scored three runs.

The Patriots are back on the diamond in the 2018 Atlantic 10 Championship beginning Wednesday, May 23 at Tucker Field at Barcroft Park in Arlington, Va.