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RICHMOND, Va. – George Mason freshman third baseman Evan Blanchard drove in the winning run in the top of the 11th inning to lift the sixth-seeded Patriots past third-seeded Dayton, 5-4, in the opening round of the 2023 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship on Tuesday night at The Diamond in Richmond, Va.

Sophomore starter Chad Gartland threw a season-high 120 pitches over 8.0 innings in a no-decision.  Junior Christian Mracna went 2.0 innings to earn the win and graduate student Nolan Lamere notched his first save as a Patriot.

Mason (30-24, 13-10 A10) fell behind Dayton (24-33, 15-9 A10) in the bottom of the first inning.  With runners on first and second after a leadoff single, sacrifice bunt and a walk, junior shortstop Carlos Castillo drove in a run with a single up the middle to put the Flyers in front, 1-0.  After a fly out, sophomore left fielder Mason Dobie plated a run with double to left-center to make it 2-0.

The Patriots responded in the top of the third against Dayton senior starter Mark Manfredi.  Sophomore Alex Knapp led off with a walk and advanced to second on a passed ball.  Blanchard then walked and sophomore shortstop Carsen Pracht beat out an infield single to load the bases.

Senior designated hitter South Trimble grounded into a double play, with Knapp racing home to make it a one-run game at 2-1.  Blanchard would then score from third on a wild pitch to tie the score 2-2.

Gartland settled down and retired 17 of 20 batters and allowed just one single from the third through the eighth inning.  He struck out the side in the eighth.

The Patriots took the lead in the top of the eighth against Manfredi, junior Nick Wissman and graduate student Andrew Zapka.

Knapp led off the inning with a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt.  After a pitching change, Pracht was issued a free pass and Trimble reached on catcher's interference to load the bases.  After the second pitching change of the inning, junior outfielder Derek Wood ground out to first, with Knapp crossing the plate to give the Patriots their first lead of the game at 3-2.

With runners on second and third, Pracht scored on a balk by Zapka to increase the advantage to 4-2.

The Flyers tied the game in the bottom of the ninth.  Dobie led off with a home run to right field to make it a one-run game.  Junior second baseman Paxton Tomaini doubled down the right field line and sophomore designated hitter Matt Maloney scratched out an infield single to put runners on the corners. 

After Mracna entered the game for the Patriots, Tomaini scored from third on a passed ball to tie the game, 4-4.

With no outs and the winning run 90 feet away, Mracna was able to escape the jam.  After recording a strikeout, he raced off the mound to field a squeeze bunt by Flyers senior third baseman Omar Daniels and threw out the runner at the plate.  Mracna then fanned Flyers senior first baseman Marcon Pujols to send the game into extra innings.

With two outs in the top of the 11th, the Patriots struck against Dayton junior reliever Parker Bard.  Senior Brett Stallings and Knapp both drew a walk.  Blanchard then delivered with a single to center, with Stallings racing around from second to score the eventual winning run and vault Mason into the lead, 5-4.

The Flyers threatened in the bottom of the 11th with a leadoff double and a walk to put runners on first and second. 

The Patriots made the call to the bullpen for Lamere.  After a strikeout, Pujols reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases.  Lamere slammed the door with a pop out and ended the game when he fanned Flyers graduate student catcher Nolan Watson.

For the Patriots, Gartland allowed four runs, three earned, on nine hits in 8.0 innings.  Mracna (4-1) tossed 2.0 innings on one-hit ball to earn the win.  Lamere picked up his first save of the season with his 1.0 inning of work.

For the Flyers, Manfredi allowed three runs on four hits in 7.1 innings.  Wissman gave up one run and didn't retire a batter in his outing.  Zapka pitched 2.2 scoreless innings.  Bard (2-3) surrendered one run on one hit and took the loss.

Blanchard went 1-for-3 with one RBI and one run scored.  Wood was 1-for-4 and drove in a run.

The Patriots face No. 2 Davidson on Wednesday with the first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. at The Diamond.