BASEBALL at Dayton
WHEN: Friday, April 12 (3 p.m.) – Saturday, April 13 (1 p.m.) – Sunday, April 14 (12 p.m.)
WHERE: Woerner Field | Dayton, Ohio
RECORDS: George Mason (15-15, 3-3 A10); Dayton (20-12, 4-2 A10)
ALL-TIME SERIES: George Mason leads, 12-10.
LAST MEETING: The Patriots defeated the Flyers twice at the 2023 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championships (5-4 in 11 innings on March 23, 2023 and 3-2 on March 26, 2023) in Richmond, Va.
GAME NOTES (PDF): Click here
WATCH ($): ESPN+ 
LIVE STATS: Click here

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FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason baseball team is on the road a three-game Atlantic 10 Conference series against Dayton beginning Friday with the first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. at Woerner Field in Dayton, Ohio.
 
Last time out, the Patriots (15-15, 3-3 A10) won two-of three games in their home series against George Washington.  Mason won the final two games, including a 13-10 victory in the finale on Sunday afternoon.
 
Senior center fielder Jordan Smith had four hits, including three doubles, drove in four runs and scored three runs.  Junior catcher Connor Dykstra had a pair of hits, drove in two runs, scored two runs and stole three bases.  Junior shortstop Carsen Pracht collected three hits with one RBI and one run scored.
 
Mason defeated Dayton in the opening round of the 2023 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championships at the Diamond in Richmond, Va. 
 
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.

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 then advanced to the A10 Championship game with a 3-2 victory over Dayton in the second meeting of the tournament between the two teams.  Infielders South Trimble and Pracht each drove in a run and scored a run, while Gartland picked up the save.
 
Smith is hitting .390 (41-for-105) in 30 starts in center field.  He leads the club in average (.390), hits (41), doubles (10), triples (3), RBI (27) and runs scored (31), is second in home runs (5) and tied for third in stolen bases (8). 
 
Among Atlantic 10 leaders, Smith is third in the league in average, tied for fourth in doubles and tied for fifth in hits.

Pracht has a .297 average (27-for-91) in 29 games with 28 starts.  He is second on the club in average (.297), tied for third in doubles (5) and tied for fourth in hits (27).

Junior first baseman Reece Woody is batting .293 (29-for-100) in 30 games with 28 starts.  He is third in average (.293), hits (29), home runs (4) and RBI (22) and fifth in runs scored (18).

Sophomore outfielder James Quinn-Irons has a .290 average (27-for-93) in 27 games with 26 starts.  He leads the Atlantic 10 in home runs (9).  Quinn-Irons is second on the team in RBI (25), third in runs scored (20) and tied for fourth in hits (27).

Trimble is hitting .288 (32-for-111) in 29 starts.  He leads the team and is fourth in the NCAA in stolen bases (22).   Trimble is second on the club in hits (32) and runs scored (30), third in doubles (5) and fifth in RBI (18).

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
 
Friday
Mason: RHP Nick Martins (1-4, 4.50)
Dayton: LHP Eli Majick (3-2, 5.87)
 
Saturday
Mason: LHP Konner Eaton (3-2, 4.91)
Dayton: RHP Chris Peguero (1-3, 7.31)
 
Sunday
Mason: LHP Ryan Peterson (1-1, 4.91)
Dayton: RHP Connor Fennell (3-1, 3.99)
 
SCOUTING DAYTON
 
Dayton has a 20-12 record, including a mark of 4-2 against Atlantic 10 Conference opponents.  The Flyers are 10-3 at home and 10-9 on the road.
 
Dayton won two-of-three against Fordham in its first league series of the season March 29-31 at Woerner Field.  The Flyers dropped the first game, 12-2, then won the final two games of the series, 12-6 and 6-5.
 
The Flyers won two-of-three on the road against the Bonnies April 6-7 in St. Bonaventure, N.Y.  Dayton took the first game, 7-5, and the finale, 17-3.  The Bonnies walked off the middle game of the series, 11-10.
 
Last time out, Dayton defeated Akron, 12-7, on Tuesday at Woerner Field.
 
Freshman infielder David Mendez is batting .390 (39-for-100) in 29 games with 24 starts.  He leads the team in hits (39) and runs scored (33), is second in doubles (6), triples (2) and stolen bases (12), third in RBI (28) and fourth in home runs (3).
 
Junior infielder/outfielder David Pedanou is hitting .317 (33-for-104) in 27 starts.  He leads the club in triples (3) and stolen bases (19), is third in runs scored (31), fourth in hits (33) and doubles (4) and seventh in RBI (16).
 
Sophomore infielder/catcher Eddie Yamin has a .314 average (38-for-121) in 32 starts.  He leads the team in home runs (7), doubles (7) and RBI (31) and is second in hits (38) and runs scored (32).
 
Dayton has a team batting average of .298 and a team ERA of 6.04 through 32 games.
 
ABOUT THE PATRIOTS
 
Mason has 22 returners and added 18 newcomers on the roster heading into the season under Shawn Camp, who enters his second year as the head coach of the Patriots.
 
The Mason senior class includes pitchers Nick Martins, Kyle Menaker and Ryan Peterson, along with outfielders Jordan Smith and Derek Wood.  Graduate student utility player South Trimble also returns for the Patriots.
 
The junior class includes pitchers Chad Gartland and Britt Yount, infielder Carsen Pracht, outfielders Brandon Parks and Reece Woody and catcher Connor Dykstra. 
 
Sophomores returning for their second year with the Green and Gold are pitchers Konner Eaton, Ryan Edmonds, Tyler Herkey, Connor Knox, Logan Rumberg and Owen Stewart, infielder Evan Blanchard, outfielder James Quinn-Irons and catcher Bennett Shealor. 
 
The Patriots added 18 new players, with 13 freshman, one junior and four graduate students entering their first year at George Mason.
 
New pitchers joining the Patriots are freshmen Cole Egan (LHP), Brant Ertel (RHP), Dylan McCarthy (RHP), Shaun Okeeffe (LHP) and Ty Uchman (LHP).  Graduate students Luke Goodyear (LHP) and Avery Mabe (RHP) along with junior Jake Roberti join the Mason bullpen.
 
New position players include two graduate students, catcher Socrates Bardatsos and utility player Ben Jones.  Eight freshmen position players embark on their rookie year with infielders Jake Butler, Christian Carver, Cole Feldman, Toby Hueber and Owen Hull, outfielders Jake Kozlowski and Ryan Muskopf and catcher J.P. Williams.
 
GEORGE MASON 2024 SCHEDULE
 
The Patriots are schedule to play a 56-game slate that includes 24 contests against Atlantic 10 Conference rivals, 32 games at Spuhler Field and three games against opponents that made a NCAA Regional appearance last season.
 
The Patriots began the season with three games at the Baseball at the Beach tournament in Conway, S.C.
 
Mason fell to No. 18 Coastal Carolina, 26-0 (Feb. 16), lost to No. 12 Duke, 23-5 (Feb. 17) and dropped the final game at Baseball at the Beach to Indiana, 9-3 (Feb. 18).
 
All four teams that competed at Baseball at the Beach played in a NCAA Regional last season, with both Duke and Coastal Carolina in the 2023 NCAA Conway Regional.  The Blue Devils defeated the Chanticleers to advance to the Super Regional. 
 
The Patriots won their home opener over Coppin State, 21-2 (Feb. 20).
 
Mason dropped three-of-four against Purdue at Ting Stadium in Holly Springs, N.C.  The Boilermakers won the opener, 7-4 (Feb. 23), the two teams split a doubleheader with the Patriots taking game one, 11-9 and Purdue the nightcap, 12-5 (Feb. 24).  The Boilermakers won the finale, 11-1, in seven innings (Feb. 25).
 
In March, Mason is scheduled to play 20 games with 16 at home and four on the road. 
 
Mason opened a season-high eight-game homestand with a three-game sweep over Fairfield (March 1-3).   The Patriots won the first game, 3-0, the middle game, 8-0 and then notched a 9-8 walk-off victory in the series finale.
 
Mason took two-of-three from Monmouth (March 8-10).  The Patriots swept a doubleheader March 8 with two walk-off wins, 6-5 in 10 innings in game one and 2-1 in the nightcap.  The Hawks won the finale, 12-7. 
 
The Patriots defeated Bucknell (March 12) with a 13-12 walk-off win and then downed Maryland Eastern Shore (March 13) 15-5 in seven innings to finish the homestand 7-1.
 
Mason was swept on the road by North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, N.C. (March 15-17) by final scores of 14-5, 6-5 and 10-9.
 
The Patriots dropped their midweek matchup to Longwood (March 19), 9-4.
 
Mason won two-of-three against Villanova (March 22-24).  The Patriots swept a doubleheader (March 22) by final scores of 6-5 and 3-2 and dropped the finale (March 24), 9-2.
 
The Patriots downed VMI (March 26) in a midweek game, 16-3, to conclude the five-game homestand.
 
The Patriots wrapped up the month when they traveled down I-95 to take on Richmond in the first Atlantic 10 series of the season (March 29-31).  The Spiders took the first two games with 6-5 and 17-16 (10) walk-off wins.  The Patriots won the last game of the series, 9-4.
 
In April, the Patriots are scheduled to play 16 games, with 10 at home and six on the road.
 
Mason's midweek matinee on the road against Longwood (April 3) was canceled due to rain.
 
The Patriots took two-of-three games from rival George Washington (April 5-7) at Spuhler Field.  The Revolutionaries won the first game, 3-2 and the Patriots claimed the final two games, 5-2 and 13-10.
 
The Patriots then face the Flyers for three games in Dayton, Ohio (April 12-14) and wrap up the stretch under the lights against Virginia in Charlottesville, Va. (April 17).
 
The Cavaliers advanced to the 2023 College World Series last season after winning all three games in the Charlottesville Regional and taking two of three games against Duke in the Super Regional.
 
In 2023, the Patriots went 15-11 at home, 14-11 on the road and 7-5 in games played at a neutral site.
 
Mason is back at home in conference play against Massachusetts (April 19-21) before traveling for a Tuesday meeting against Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. (April 23).
 
The Patriots host VCU (April 26-28) to wrap up the month of April.
 
In May, the Patriots are scheduled to play 12 games, with four at home and eight on the road.
 
The month begins with a midweek matchup against Georgetown in Tysons, Va. (May 1).  The Patriots then travel to the Gateway City for a three-game conference series against the Billikens in St. Louis, Mo. (May 3-5).
 
Mason then plays back-to-back midweek games. The Patriots are home to meet Maryland Eastern Shore (May 7) and back on the road to tangle with Towson (May 8).
 
The Patriots play their final regular season road series at Saint Joseph's in Philadelphia, Pa. (May 11-13) and conclude the regular season with a three-game series at Spuhler Field against Davidson (May 16-18).
 
The Patriots will play three home-and-home series during the 2024 season, taking on Towson, Longwood and VMI for single games both at home and on the road.
 
Mason plays eight league series, four at home and four on the road.
 
Home series against A-10 foes include three-game weekend sets against George Washington (April 5-7), Massachusetts (April 19-21), VCU (April 26-28) and Davidson (May 16-18).
 
The Patriots will visit Richmond (March 29-31), Dayton (April 12-14), Saint Louis (May 3-5) and Saint Joseph's (May 10-12).
 
The 2024 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship will be held May 21-25 at Capital One Park in Tysons, Va.
 
STRIKE ZONE

Mason and Dayton have met two times in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament since the Patriots joined the league in 2014.

The Patriots faced the Flyers in the opening game of the 2014 Atlantic 10 Tournament on May 21, 2014.  Mason scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning to edge Dayton, 4-3, in St. Louis, Mo.
 
In the program's first season in the conference, Mason went on to win four games to claim the 2014 A-10 Conference Tournament.  The Patriots also recorded wins over Saint Joseph's and two against VCU to advance to the Houston Regional in the NCAA Tournament.

Last season, Mason defeated Dayton in the opening round of the 2023 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championships, 5-4 in 11 innings, at the Diamond in Richmond, Va.  The Patriots then eliminated the Flyers with a 3-2 victory to advance to the championship game.
 
Mason went 5-1 in the tournament last season to win its second Atlantic 10 title and advanced to the NCAA Winston-Salem Regional.