BASEBALL at Longwood
WHEN: Tuesday, April 12 (6 p.m.)
WHERE: Buddy Bolding Stadium | Farmville, Va.
RECORDS: George Mason (10-20, 2-4 A-10); Longwood (15-18, 7-2 Big South)
ALL-TIME SERIES: Mason leads, 12-7.
LAST MEETING: The Patriots defeated the Lancers, 4-3, on April 9, 2019 at Spuhler Field.
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: Click here
 
FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason baseball team plays its fifth straight road game with a midweek, non-conference matchup against Longwood on Tuesday, with the first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. at Buddy Bolding Stadium in Farmville, Va.
 
Last time out, the Patriots (10-20, 2-4 A-10) fell to Saint Joseph's, 14-2, in the final game of the series on Sunday afternoon at Smithson Field in Philadelphia, Pa.  The Hawks took two of three games in the series.
 
Freshmen Yogie Hartigan and Carsen Pracht, along with junior Brett Stallings each had two hits in the game.
 
The Patriots are 5-9 at home, 4-11 on the road and 1-0 in games played at a neutral site this season.
 
Tuesday's game is the 20th meeting between Mason and Longwood, with the Patriots holding a 12-7 edge in the all-time series. 
 
The Patriots have won six of the last seven meetings overall, and each of the last three games played at Buddy Bolding Stadium since the 2014 season. 
 
Mason is 6-3 all-time on the road at Longwood.  The two teams first met on April 4, 2006, with the Lancers edging the Patriots, 4-3, in Farmville, Va.
 
In the all-time series, 10 of the 19 games have been decided by a single run, with 14 of the 19 contests decided by two runs or less.
 
In the last meeting between Mason and Longwood, catcher Logan Driscoll drove in the game-winning run with a triple off the wall in the ninth to lift the Patriots to a 4-3 victory on April 9, 2019 at Spuhler Field. 
 
Driscoll went 3-for-5 with a RBI, while Alejandro Aponte and Daniel Brooks drove in a run in the game.
 
Mason Posey entered the game in the ninth with no outs and the go-ahead run on second.  He recorded a ground out then enticed a double-play ball to end the game for his first collegiate win.
 
Junior INF/OF South Trimble has a .354 average (23-for-65) with three doubles, eight RBI and 14 runs scored in 17 starts.  He leads the team in stolen bases (14) and is fifth on the club in both hits (23) and runs scored (14).
 
Sophomore center fielder Jordan Smith is hitting .338 (24-for-71) with three doubles, one triple, one home run, 12 RBI and 10 runs scored in 18 starts in the outfield.  He is tied for second on the club in stolen bases (11) and is fourth in hits (24).
 
Junior second baseman Brett Stallings is batting .333 (37-for-111) with five doubles, 25 RBI and 17 runs scored in 30 starts on the right side of the infield.  He leads the team in hits (37) and RBI (25), and is tied for second in both runs scored (17) and stolen bases (11).
 
Freshman INF/OF Brett Ahalt has a .333 average (22-for-66) with five doubles, two home runs, 13 RBI and 12 runs scored in 21 games played with 19 starts.
 
Freshman catcher Connor Dykstra is hitting .260 (20-for-77) with five doubles, four home runs, 14 RBI and 19 runs scored in 27 games played with 26 starts.  He leads the team in home runs (4), runs scored (19) and hit by pitch (13), and is fourth on the club in RBI (14).
 
The Patriots have a team batting average of .265 through 30 games.
 
On the mound, senior Jared Lyons (3-3, 5.67) leads the club in innings pitched (46.0) and is second in strikeouts (41) in eight starts.  Graduate student Danny Hosley (3-3, 4.33) leads the club in strikeouts (43) and is second in innings pitched (35.1) in seven appearances with five starts.  Sophomore Ryan Peterson (1-0, 5.46) is third on the club in innings pitched (31.1) in eight appearances with four starts.
 
Senior Matthew Henson (1-1, 6.50) leads the team in appearances (15), while classmate Mason Posey (0-2, 7.94) is second in appearances (12) with three starts.  Posey leads the team in saves (3).    
 
ABOUT THE PATRIOTS
 
Mason has 10 returners and 25 newcomers on the roster heading into the season under Bill Brown, who enters his 41st year as the head coach of the Patriots.
 
The Mason senior class includes pitchers Matthew Henson, Jared Lyons, Hugh O'Hara and Mason Posey, along with infielders Daniel Brooks and Scott Morgan.
 
The junior class includes outfielder Craig Miles, Jr., infielder Brett Stallings, and infielder/outfielder South Trimble.  Sophomore outfielder Jordan Smith returns for his second season with the Green and Gold.
 
The Patriots added 25 new players, with 18 freshman, three sophomores and four graduate students.
 
Rookie pitchers joining the Patriots are Jackson Baird (RHP), Diego Barrett (RHP), Dylan Crowley (LHP), Konner Eaton (LHP), Chad Gartland, (RHP), Jalen Grant (LHP), Danny Hosley (INF/RHP), Thomas Little (LHP), Christian Mracna (RHP), Andrew Schaeb (LHP), Ben Shields (LHP) and Britt Yount (RHP).
 
New position players include Brett Ahalt (INF/OF), Tyler Cotten (C/INF), Connor Dykstra (C), Yogie Hartigan (OF), Alex Knapp (UTL), Carsen Pracht (INF) and Logan Scully (C).
 
The Patriots bring on sophomores Christian Mracna (RHP), Ryan Peterson (LHP), and Stephen Restuccio (RHP).
 
The Patriots also added four graduate student transfers, Danny Hosley (INF/RHP), Chris Ruckdeschel (RHP), Ben Shields (LHP) and Kamron Smith (OF/INF).
 
Mason is scheduled to play 56 games, including 24 against Atlantic 10 Conference rivals, and four opponents that made a NCAA Regional appearance last season.
 
The Patriots played seven games on the road in February, and will play 18 games in March, 19 games in April and 12 contests in May.
 
Mason went 10-13 at home in 2021, including a mark of 7-9 against A-10 opponents.
 
The Patriots played 11 of their first 13 games in March at Spuhler Field.
   
The Patriots are scheduled to play 11 games at home and seven on the road in April.  In the final month of the regular season, Mason will play eight of 12 games on the road in May.
  
The Patriots will play four home-and-home series during the 2022 season, taking on James Madison, Longwood, Maryland and William & Mary for single games at home and on the road.
 
Mason plays eight league series, four at home and four on the road.
 
Home series against A-10 foes include three-game weekend sets against VCU (April 1-3), Saint Louis (April 15-17), Fordham (April 22-24) and George Washington (May 13-15).
 
The Patriots will visit Saint Joseph's (April 8-10), Massachusetts (April 29-May 1), Richmond (May 6-8) and Davidson (May 19-21).
 
SCOUTING LONGWOOD
 
Longwood has an overall record of 15-18 including a mark of 7-2 against Big South Conference opponents.  The Lancers are 9-2 at home, 6-13 on the road, and 0-3 in games played at a neutral site.
 
Longwood is playing its first home game since March 20.  The Lancers played 13 straight games on the road, posting a 6-7 record.
 
Last time out, Longwood won two-of-three at High Point this past weekend, with all three games decided by one run.  The Lancers won the first game, 3-2, dropped the middle game, 6-5, and claimed a 3-2 victory in the series finale on Sunday.
 
The Lancers won their first three games of the season, beginning with a three-game sweep against Maryland-Eastern Shore (Feb. 18-20) in Farmville, Va. by final scores of 11-1, 11-7 and 15-9.
 
Longwood then lost 10 straight games from Feb. 22 through March 8, a stretch that included three-game sweeps by Elon (Feb. 25-17) in Burlington, N.C. and Purdue (March 4-6) in Holly Springs, N.C.
 
The Lancers are 0-3 this season against Atlantic 10 Conference opponents.  VCU has defeated Longwood twice, with an 8-3 win on Feb. 22 at Buddy Bolding Stadium and a 6-5 victory on March 22 at The Diamond.  Richmond earned a 9-2 home win over Longwood on April 5.
 
Sophomore infielder Eliot Dix is batting .360 (31-for-86) with five doubles, one home run, 18 RBI and 22 runs scored in 25 starts.  Senior outfielder Jack Schnell is hitting .339 (37-for-109) with 12 doubles, one triple, three home runs, 23 RBI and 16 runs scored in 33 starts.
 
Junior outfielder Michael Peterson has a .337 average (32-for-95) with five doubles, one triple, two home runs, 21 RBI and 21 runs scored in 28 starts.  Sophomore infielder Hayden Harris is batting .287 (37-for-129) with seven doubles, two home runs, 19 RBI and 31 runs scored.
 
The Lancers have a team batting average of .274 through 33 games.
 
On the mound, sophomore Andrew Potojecki (6-1, 3.00) leads the team in wins (6), ERA (3.00), innings pitched (48.0) and strikeouts (32).  Freshman Kevin Warunek (3-0, 3.35) is second on the club in wins (3), ERA (3.45) and innings pitched (40.1).  Sophomore Logan Berrier (0-3, 3.42) leads the team in appearances (13) and is third in innings pitched (23.2).
 
Longwood has a team ERA of 5.57 through 33 games.
 
PROBABLE STARTERS

Mason: TBD 
Longwood: TBD

STRIKE ZONE
 
The last time Mason played on the road at Longwood, the Patriots defeated the Lancers, 4-3, on Feb. 26, 2019 at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
 
Then-freshman Patrick Halligan made his NCAA debut and tossed five innings to earn his first collegiate win.  Three Mason relievers held the Lancers off the scoreboard over the last four innings.