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ARLINGTON, Va. – A stellar effort from pitcher Brian Marconi and an efficient evening from the Patriot offense led the George Mason University baseball team past George Washington Saturday night and into the A-10 Championship series.
 
The Patriots knocked off the Colonials 9-4, marking the fourth time in five games this season that Mason has come out on top in the Revolutionary Rivalry series.
 
With the victory, the Green & Gold advance to Saturday's A-10 final. The Patriots will have to knock off top seed Saint Louis twice, but doing so would give the Patriots the league title and an automatic berth into the NCAA Championship.
 
Marconi put together a masterful performance while allowing just two runs and five hits in seven innings of work. He gave up just a pair of hits in the game's first seven frames.
 
On the offensive side, seven Patriots posted at least one hit and scored a run, while the Green & Gold amassed 13 hits overall. Trevor Kelly led Mason with a powerful performance at the dish. The senior smacked a pair of homers and finished with three hits, three RBI and a pair of runs scored.
 
Second baseman Alejandro Aponte added a pair of hits and two RBI, while shortstop Michael Smith chipped in three hits, an RBI and scored two runs.
 
Mason rocketed out of the gate with a big first inning. With two outs, Logan Driscoll was hit by a pitch, bringing up the cleanup hitter, Kelly. He blasted a two-run bomb to right centerfield, much to the delight of the partisan Patriot crowd. Mason took a 2-0 edge into the bottom of the first.
 
The Patriots nearly struck again in the second while putting runners on second and third with one out. At that point, Frank Sturek lifted a ball to the outfield, but GW's right fielder executed a perfect throw to home to get Mason's lead runner, Michael Smith, for the final out.
 
Marconi gave up a leadoff double in the bottom of the third, but an outstanding play stopped the GW rally from going any further. Marconi struck out GW's Kuncl, then Driscoll ripped a throw to third base to get the runner and complete the strike him out, throw him out double play.
 
The Patriots added to their lead in the top of the fourth inning. After a Greg Popatak triple to dead center, Michael Smith drove him in with a single to make it 3-0 in favor of the Patriots. Daniel Brooks then drew a walk to put runners on first and second. From there, Aponte drove in Smith with a single (4-0). Then, Sturek doubled home Brooks and Aponte to put the Green & Gold up, 6-0.
 
Meanwhile, Marconi continued to pitch well while avoiding major trouble. He scattered a pair of hits in the fourth, but forced a fly out with two outs to stop GW's scoring opportunity.
 
Kelly bombed his second homer of the contest in the fifth, this one almost in the same spot as the first, to push the Mason lead to 7-0.
 
As Marconi continued to mow down Colonial batters in the bottom of the fifth, the Mason bats continued to pad the lead in the top of the sixth. Smith led off the frame with a double, then after he was moved over to third with a ground out, Aponte drove him in with a sac fly. Aponte's second RBI of the game made it 8-0 in favor of the Green & Gold.
 
GW threatened again in the bottom of the inning. But with runners on first and second and two outs, Marconi worked an 0-and-2 count into a harmless fly out to keep his line unblemished.
 
The Colonials finally got to Marconi in the bottom of the seventh, as GW's Brophy launched a two-run blast into the trees of Barcroft Park to cut the Mason lead to 8-2.
 
Mason added a run in the eighth to make it 9-2 and nearly tacked on more, but left the bases loaded in the frame.
 
GW scored two runs in the bottom of the inning, but could not get close enough to put a scare into the Patriots, as Mason claimed the five-run victory to advance.
 
The first game in Saturday's A-10 Championship series is set for 11 a.m.

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