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TYSONS, Va. – Led by a career-best pitching performance and steady offense, the George Mason baseball team defeated Davidson, 9-1, to stave off elimination and advance to the next round of the Atlantic 10 Championship Tournament at Capital One Park in Tysons, Va.
 
The Patriots (29-25, 18-12 A-10) will play Game 6 later this evening at 7:30 p.m. They will face off against the lower seed of the loser of either Game 4 (No. 1 Saint Joseph's vs. No. 5 Rhode Island) or Game 5 (No. 2 Richmond vs. No. 3 VCU).
 
Senior starting pitcher Logan Rumberg (W, 7-3) had a stellar performance in Thursday morning's tournament game. After starting the 9 a.m. game with six consecutive balls, the Okotoks, Alberta, Canada, native settled in and recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts in seven full frames of work, including back-to-back 1-2-3 innings in the fifth and sixth. Rumberg gave up one run on six hits and two walks.
 
The Patriots broke the deadlock and took the first lead of the game in the top of the third inning. Freshman third baseman Jackson Morse got on base with a two-out single and later stole second. The following batter, senior shortstop Owen Clyne, drove Morse home with an RBI single to right center on the first pitch he saw. 
 
Davidson (25-28, 16-14 A-10) struck back in the bottom of the same frame and leveled the score. With runners on first and second with two outs, junior right fielder Forrest Lietz flared a single to left, scoring freshman third baseman Matthew Vannoy from second.
 
Both teams were held scoreless in the fourth. After that, however, George Mason would go on to record at least one run in the final five innings of the game, while the Wildcats were held scoreless.

The Patriots retook the lead with a two-run top of the fifth. After leadoff hitter Evan Blanchard and Logan Vaughan reached first on a bunt single, Matthew Westley laid down a sacrifice bunt, moving the Patriot runners to second and third. Up next was Morse, who hit an infield RBI single to drive in Blanchard from third. Clyne followed with an RBI sacrifice fly to right, scoring Vaughan
 
The Patriots added to their lead in the sixth with a Jake Butler leadoff home run over the left field wall of Capital One Park. It was the first home run for the Patriots this tournament and the fourth of the season for the junior first baseman.
 
George Mason extended their lead once again, tacking another run in the seventh. With runners on the corners, the Patriots induced a delayed double steal. Though Clyne, who was on first, was tagged out on a rundown, junior right fielder Matthew Westley was able to slide head-first in time to score before the Davidson catcher could apply the tag.
 
The game was broken wide open in the top of the eighth with an Evan Blanchard three-run home run to left center. The senior designated hitter hit his first home run of the season on a 2-2 count, scoring Luciano Terilli and Julius Bagnerise.
 
The Patriots added one final insurance run in the ninth. Leadoff hitter Morse, who drew a full count walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch and later moved to third on a Clyne groundout. He later scored off a Lucas Alberti RBI groundout to short.
 
George Mason's bullpen picked up where starter Rumberg left off. Owen Stewart pitched a scoreless eighth inning, striking out two, while Brandon Hsu finished the game with a nine-pitch outing that included a leadoff strikeout. In total, the Green & Gold pitching staff finished with 14 strikeouts.



UP NEXT
The Patriots next game will be later this evening at Capital One Park. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and can be followed on Live Stats.

TICKETS: Single-day passes are available online, or at the ticket window at Capital One Park.  All-session passes are only available online via the Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship website.
FREE STUDENT TICKETS: Free student tickets can be found here