Box score (PDF)

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The George Mason baseball team dropped the first game of its series at North Carolina A&T, 14-5, on Friday night at War Memorial Stadium in Greensboro, N.C.

Senior center fielder Jordan Smith, junior catcher Connor Dykstra and sophomore right fielder James Quinn-Irons each hit a home run.

North Carolina A&T (12-5) took the lead against Mason (9-8) senior starter Nick Martins in the bottom of the first.  With runners on second and third after a hit batter and a double, junior catcher Canyon Brown drove in his first run of the game with an infield single to third to put the Aggies in front, 1-0.

The Patriots responded in the top of the second with back-to-back home runs against North Carolina A&T senior starter Coley Kilpatrick.  Quinn-Irons belted his team-leading fifth home run of the season to start the inning and Dykstra followed with his second round-tripper of the season to give Mason a 2-1 lead.

North Carolina A&T then scored 13 unanswered runs to build a 14-2 advantage.  The Aggies scored four runs in the second and two runs in the fourth to make the score 7-2.

In the bottom of the fifth, Brown hit a grand slam to increase the lead to 11-2.  He finished the game 3-for-3 and drove in eight runs for the Aggies.

North Carolina A&T added three runs in the bottom of the sixth to pad the lead to 14-2. 

In the top of the eighth, Smith hit a three-run home run over the left field fence to plate the final three runs of the game.  He has hit three home runs in the last four games.

The Patriots used seven pitchers in the game.  Martins (1-3) allowed seven runs on five hits in 3.0 innings and took the loss.  Freshman Shaun Okeeffe, sophomore Tyler Herkey and senior Kyle Menaker each pitched 1.0 scoreless inning.

For the Aggies, Kilpatrick (2-0) allowed two runs on three hits in 7.0 innings to earn the win.  Junior Isaiah Brewington surrendered three runs and retired one batter in the eighth.  Graduate student Avery Cain tossed 1.2 hitless innings.

The Patriots and Aggies play the middle game of the series on Saturday afternoon with the first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. at War Memorial Stadium in Greensboro, N.C.