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CHARLESTON, S.C. – The George Mason baseball team dropped the first game of its weekend series to The Citadel, 6-2, on Friday night at Joseph P. Riley Park in Charleston, S.C.
 
Mason (7-13, 0-0 A-10) fell behind when The Citadel (15-6, 0-0 SoCon) plated a run in the bottom of the first against Patriots senior starter Jared Lyons.
 
Citadel graduate student shortstop Tilo Skole collected one-out single, and with two outs, classmate Ryan McCarthy doubled to right-center to put the Bulldogs in front, 1-0.
 
Bulldogs senior starter Cameron Reeves retired the first 10 Patriots batters he faced in the game.
 
In the home half of the fourth, Citadel junior third baseman Noah Mitchell doubled to the gap in right-center and scored on a line drive single to right by junior catcher Travis Lott to make the score 2-0.
 
The Patriots got on the board in the top of the sixth against Reeves.  Junior shortstop Brett Stallings led off with a single and graduate student Danny Hosley walked.  With one out, sophomore center fielder Jordan Smith singled through the right side, with Stallings scoring from second base to cut the lead in half, 2-1.
 
In the top of the seventh, senior designated hitter Scott Morgan, senior first baseman Daniel Brooks and freshman right fielder Nick Morgan each walked to load the bases with no outs.
 
The Citadel made the call to the bullpen for junior Simon Graf.  Stallings sent a sacrifice fly to left field, with pinch-runner Brett Ahalt coasting home to even the score, 2-2. 
 
The Bulldogs limited the damage with an inning-ending double play.
 
The Citadel regained the lead in the bottom of the seventh. 
 
Lott led off with a walk and junior first baseman Crosby Jones reached on a fielder's choice to put runners on first and second with no outs.  Senior center fielder Wesley Lane then singled through the right side past the Patriots drawn-in infield to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 advantage.
 
Mason summoned senior reliever Matthew Henson from the bullpen.  After a passed ball, the Bulldogs scored a run with a ground out and another on a ground-rule double to make the score 5-2.
 
In the top of the eighth, Jordan Smith singled with one out and stole second.  With two outs, graduate student left fielder Kamron Smith was hit by a pitch to bring the tying run to the plate for the Patriots.  With pinch hitter Tyler Cotten at the plate, Kamron Smith was caught stealing to end the inning.
 
The Citadel added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth against Mason graduate student Chris Ruckdeschel, with a RBI-double to pad the lead to 6-2.
 
In the ninth, Cotten led off with a double and Stallings doubled with two outs for his second RBI of the night for the 6-3 final score.
 
For the Patriots, Lyons (2-3) allowed five runs, two earned, on five hits in 6.1 innings and took the loss.  Henson gave up a hit and retired two batters in the seventh.  Ruckdeschel gave up one run on one hit in the eighth. 
 
For the Bulldogs, Reeves surrendered two runs on two hits in 6.0 innings in a no-decision.  Junior Simon Graf (1-2) tossed on scoreless inning to earn the win, and graduate student Tyler Dunn allowed one run on three hits two innings of work to pick up his second save of the season.
 
Stallings went 2-for-3 with two RBI and scored a run, while Jordan Smith was 2-for-4 and drove in a run for the Patriots.
 
The middle game of the series is Saturday with the first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. at Joseph R. Riley Park in Charleston, S.C.