Box Score
Box score
ARLINGTON, Va. – George Mason seniors
Trevor Kelly and
Michael Smith each had three hits as the second-seeded Patriots defeated No. 7 George Washington 11-3 in the first round of the 2018 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship on Wednesday afternoon at Tucker Field at Barcroft Park in Arlington, Va.
The Patriots advance and will face third-seeded Fordham on Thursday with the first pitch scheduled for 10 a.m. at Barcroft Park.
Mason (27-25) fell behind in the top of the first when George Washington (29-25) scored a run against starter
Zach Mort.
Colonials senior Isaiah Pasteur, who was named Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, walked to lead off the game and scored on a RBI-single to put the Colonials in front 1-0.
The Patriots scored in five different innings and plated 10 unanswered runs.
The Patriots responded in the bottom of the first, sending nine batters to the plate and scored three runs on three hits and two errors.
Mason junior
Brady Acker drew a one-out walk and with two outs, Kelly singled to left to put runners on first and third. After a walk to
Greg Popatak II loaded the bases, Smith fell behind in the count 1-2 but then singled to right-center to drive in two runs to give the Patriots a 2-1 lead.
Freshman
Daniel Brooks kept the inning going when he singled to center to load the bases again and junior
Alejandro Aponte reached on a fielder error, with Popatak crossing the plate to make the score 3-1.
In the home half of the third, Popatak jumped on the first pitch he saw and belted a solo home run to straightaway center to increase the advantage to 4-1. He has hit a home run in three straight games.
It's the second straight year that Popatak has left the yard in round one of the Atlantic 10 Championship. He homered to center field last year in Mason's 9-6 win over Rhode Island at the Billiken Sports Center in St. Louis.
In the bottom of the fifth, Mason sent eight batters to the plate and scored four more runs.
The Patriots loaded the bases before graduate student
Frank Sturek knocked in two runs with a double down the third base line to extend the lead to 6-1. With two outs in the inning, Acker drove in two more runs with a single to make the score 8-1.
In the sixth, Kelly led off the inning with his seventh home run of the season, a blast to left-center that carried over the wall. Smith and Brooks both singled to put runners on the corners with one out and Aponte drove in Smith with a RBI-single to increase the Mason lead to 10-1.
George Washington scored two runs on three hits in the top of the seventh to cut the lead to 10-3, but that's as close as the Colonials would get.
Mason tacked on another run in the bottom of the eighth when Aponte hit his first triple of the season to center field and Sturek followed with a RBI-double to left.
The Patriots have won five straight and 10 of their last 12 games.
Mort (6-3) allowed three runs on six hits over 7.0 innings to earn the win. Freshman
Austin Cabone tossed two scoreless innings in relief.
Pasteur (2-1) surrendered eight runs, seven earned, on eight hits in 4.1 innings and took the loss for the Colonials.
Smith went 3-for-4 with three singles, two RBI and two runs scored. Kelly was 3-for-5 with a home run and scored two runs. Sturek finished 2-for-5 with two doubles and three RBI, while Popatak went 2-for-3 with a home run and two runs scored.
Mason has hit seven home runs over the last three games.
The 11 runs are the most the Patriots have scored in an Atlantic 10 Championship game.
Every player in the lineup for Mason reached base at least once, while seven players recorded a multi-hit game for the Patriots. The 16 hits are tied for the second-most that the Patriots have had in a game this season.
