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DAVIDSON, N.C. – The Patriots evened their series with Davidson with a 9-4 victory on Friday afternoon at Wilson Field in Davidson, N.C.

The Patriots have won eight of their last 12 games.  The Wildcats lost at home for just the sixth time this season.

Mason (22-30, 13-10 A10) fell behind Davidson (41-11, 19-4 A10) when the Wildcats scored a single run in each of the first two innings against Patriots senior starter Jared Lyons.

In the bottom of the first, sophomore catcher Michael Carico led off with a solo home run to put the Wildcats in front, 1-0.

In the home half of the second, junior left fielder Henry Koehler led off with a double and scored on a sacrifice fly by freshman designated hitter Jacob Friend to increase the lead to 2-0.

The Patriots got on the board in the top of the fourth against Davidson senior starter Blake Hely.

Sophomore designated hitter Jordan Smith was hit by a pitch and went to second on a wild pitch.  Graduate student third baseman Danny Hosley then singled to center to put runners on the corners.  With one out, freshman right fielder Brett Ahalt drove in a run with a ground out to make it a one-run game at 2-1.

Mason sent nine batters to the plate in the top of the fifth and scored five runs on two hits, three walks against Hely and junior reliever Will Schomberg to take the lead for good, 6-2.

Junior second baseman Brett Stallings drove in two runs with a double, graduate student left fielder Kamron Smith knocked in a run with a double and the Patriots took advantage of a fielding error to plate two more runs in the inning.

With two outs in the top of the seventh, Hosley singled and Kamron Smith followed with his fourth home run of the season, a two-run blast over the left field fence to extend the advantage to 8-2.

While the Patriots offense built the lead, Lyons, sophomore Ryan Peterson and freshman Chad Gartland combined to keep the Wildcats scoreless for five straight innings.

Davidson scored a run in the bottom of the eighth on a RBI-single by junior shortstop Jacob Hinderleider to make the score 8-3.

Ahalt drove in his second run of the game with a sacrifice fly in the ninth, while the Wildcats also plated a run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning for the 9-4 final score.

Each of the pitchers in the game for the Patriots threw three innings.  Lyons allowed two runs on three hits and struck out three, Peterson (4-2) scattered three hits and struck out three to earn his second straight win, and Gartland gave up two runs on five hits and notched his third save of the season.

For the Wildcats, Hely (9-1) allowed four runs on three hits in 4.1 innings and suffered his first loss of the season, while Schomberg surrendered five runs on five hits in 4.2 innings.

Kamron Smith went 1-for-4 with a home run, two RBI and two runs scored, Stallings was 1-for-5 with two RBI and Jordan Smith finished 1-for-3 with a walk, hit by pitch and scored three runs.

The Patriots and Wildcats play the final game of the regular season on Saturday, with the first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. at Wilson Field.