Box score (PDF)

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The George Mason baseball team fell to No. 1 Wake Forest, 12-0, on Friday evening in the Winston-Salem NCAA Regional at David F. Couch Ballpark.

Junior center fielder Jordan Smith went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles in the game.

Mason (34-26) fell behind top-seeded Wake Forest (48-10) in the bottom of the second inning.  With one out and a runner on first after a single, Wake Forest junior designated hitter Adam Cecere hit a two-run home run off Mason graduate student starter Ben Shields to put the Demon Deacons in front, 2-0.

Wake Forest doubled the lead in the bottom of the third.  After a leadoff walk and a fly out, junior second baseman Justin Johnson hit a two-run home run over the right field fence to make it 4-0.

Shields retired 11 of 12 Demon Deacon batters from the third through the sixth inning.  He finished his outing with five strikeouts and two walks.

Wake Forest sent nine batters to the plate in the bottom of the seventh and scored four runs against Shields and Mason graduate student reliever Nolan Lamere.  The Demon Deacons collected two RBI-doubles and a two-run single to increase the advantage to 8-0.

Wake Forest junior starter Seth Keener scattered three singles and struck out 13 in his outing.  He retired 12 straight batters from the third through the sixth inning.

In the bottom of the eighth, Wake Forest loaded the bases against Patriots junior reliever Kyle Menaker on a pair of Mason errors and a walk.  Johnson then hit a one-out grand slam to plate the final runs of the game to extend the lead to 12-0.

For the Patriots, Shields (7-4) allowed six runs on nine hits in 6.1 innings and took the loss.  Lamere surrendered two runs on two hits and retired two batters in the seventh inning.  Menaker gave up four unearned runs on one hit in the eighth inning.

For the Demon Deacons, Keener (7-1) tossed 7.0 innings of three-hit ball and struck out 13 without a walk to earn the win.  Graduate student Cole Roland and junior Derek Crum each worked 1.0 scoreless inning.

The Patriots were limited to four baserunners in the game.  Smith went 2-for-4 with two singles, freshman third baseman Evan Blanchard was 1-for-3 and senior pinch hitter/left fielder Craig Miles, Jr. walked to lead off the eighth inning.

The Patriots face No. 3 Northeastern in an elimination game on Saturday with the first pitch scheduled for noon at David F. Couch Ballpark in Winston-Salem, N.C.