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Championship Central

RICHMOND, Va. – George Mason graduate student Kyle Smith earned his first win and sophomore Chad Gartland picked up the save to lead the sixth-seeded Patriots past third-seeded Dayton, 3-2, on Saturday at the 2023 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship at The Diamond in Richmond, Va.

It was Mason's second win over Dayton in the tournament.  The Patriots defeated the Flyers in the opening round, 5-4, in 11 innings.

With the victory, the Patriots advanced to the championship game on Saturday where they will face No. 4 Saint Louis.  The Patriots will have to beat the Billikens twice on Saturday to claim the title.

Mason (32-25, 13-10 A10) took the lead over Dayton (26-34, 15-9 A10) in the bottom of the third inning against Flyers junior starter Nick Wissman.

With one out, senior designated hitter South Trimble walked and stole second.  Junior right fielder Derek Wood then singled to put runners on the corners.  After Wood stole second, junior center fielder Jordan Smith drove in a run with a ground out to put the Patriots in front, 1-0.

Kyle Smith turned in a gem when the Patriots needed it, working into the seventh inning in the elimination game before turning the game over to graduate student reliever Nolan Lamere.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Patriots added a pair of runs against Flyers graduate student reliever Andrew Zapka. 

Sophomore left fielder Alex Knapp singled to third base and freshman third baseman Evan Blanchard moved Knapp into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt.  Sophomore shortstop Carsen Pracht then ripped a single to left field, with Knapp racing around to score to make it a 2-0 game.

Pracht stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error.  Trimble plated Pracht with a sacrifice fly to increase the lead to 3-0.

In the top of the eighth, the Flyers plated a run with back-to-back doubles and another on a wild pitch to make it a one-run game at 3-2.

After two hit batters loaded the bases for the Flyers, the Patriots made the call to the bullpen for Gartland, who recorded a strikeout and a pop out to end the threat.

In the top of the ninth, Flyers junior second baseman Paxton Tomaini was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.  He moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and to third on a fly out.  With the tying run 90 feet away, Gartland struck out Flyers sophomore left fielder Mason Dobie looking to end the game.

For the Patriots, Kyle Smith (1-0) allowed two runs on eight hits in 7.1 innings to earn his first win as a Patriot.  Gartland tossed 1.2 hitless innings to notch his second save of the season.

For the Flyers, Wissman (4-2) allowed one run on five hits in 6.0 innings and took the loss.  Zapka gave up two runs on three hits in 1.0 inning.  Senior Mark Manfredi pitched the eighth.

Kyle Smith went 2-for-4 with one RBI, Trimble was 1-for-2 with one RBI and one run scored and Pracht finished 1-for-3 with one RBI and scored a run.

The Patriots face No. 4 Saint Louis on Saturday with the first pitch scheduled for noon at The Diamond in Richmond, Va.