Box score (PDF)

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The George Mason baseball team dropped its Atlantic 10 opener to Saint Joseph's, 11-5, on Friday afternoon at Smithson Field in Philadelphia, Pa.

Mason (10-10, 0-1 A-10) fell behind Saint Joseph's (8-10, 1-0 A-10) in the first inning.  After back-to-back two-out singles put runners on the corners, junior catcher James McConnon scored from third base on a fielding error to put the Hawks in front 1-0.

Saint Joseph's increased the lead in the bottom of the second against Mason junior starter Jared DiCesare.

Hawks junior outfielder Kadar Namey led off the inning with a solo home run to right field and McConnon hit a two-out, two-run homer to right to extend the lead to 4-0.

Saint Joseph's junior starter Jordan DiValerio retired the first 10 batters he faced in the game before walking Mason junior catcher Logan Driscoll with one out in the third. 

Junior outfielder Bailey Klein followed with a single and senior first baseman Tim Quinn then belted his second home run of the season, a three-run blast over the right field fence to cut the lead to 4-3.

The Patriots have hit at least one home run in each of the last three games.

The Hawks scored a run in the fifth on a RBI-double by freshman catcher Andrew Cossetti to make the score 5-3.

Saint Joseph's broke the game open in the seventh against three Mason relievers, sending nine batters to the plate and scoring four runs on two hits and five walks to make it a 9-3 game. 

In the top of the eighth, Mason senior shortstop Alejandro Aponte led off with a walk and with one out, Driscoll hit his sixth home run of the season to bring the Patriots closer at 9-5.

The Hawks responded with two runs on three doubles in the bottom of the eighth for the 11-5 final score.

DiCesare (1-3) allowed five runs, four earned, on eight hits in 5.0 innings and took the loss.  Sophomore Michael Yuille gave up three runs on one hit and two walks in one inning, freshman Hugh O'Hara surrendered one run and walked three in his outing and senior Jonathan Ostroff allowed two runs on three hits in 1.2 innings of work.

DiValerio (2-2) allowed three runs on two hits with four strikeouts and two walks in 6.0 innings to earn the win.  Sophomore Jose Martinez gave up two runs on three hits over 3.0 innings and picked up his first save of the season.

Driscoll went 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBI, while Quinn was 1-for-4 with a three-run home run.

The Hawks scored 11 runs on 13 hits, including six extra-base hits, while the Patriots scored five runs on five hits.  All of Mason's runs were scored on home runs.  Every player in the starting lineup reached base at least once for Saint Joseph's.

The Patriots and Hawks will play the middle game of the series on Saturday with the first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. at Smithson Field.