GAME DAY LINKS:
CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL | ESPN+ | LIVE STATS |  BRACKET | GAME NOTES | TICKETS | FREE STUDENT TICKETS

---

TYSONS, Va. – With another stellar pitching start and an offense that had at least one base hit in every inning that included six doubles, the No. 4 George Mason baseball team defeated No. 2 Richmond, 11-6, to stave off elimination for a second straight game and advanced to the next round of the Atlantic 10 Championship Tournament at a rainy Capital One Park in Tysons, Va.

With this Game 6 win, the Patriots (30-25, 18-12 A-10) will now face top-seeded Saint Joseph's later this afternoon in another elimination game (Game 8). First pitch is set for 6 p.m.

Richmond (33-24, 20-10) was coming off a 7-4 loss to No. 3 VCU, which resumed in the seventh inning at 9 a.m. this morning after having been postponed the day prior. After the last out was recorded, the Spiders had to make a quick turnaround for their scheduled 10:30 a.m. elimination game against the Patriots.

The Patriots scored at least a run in the first five innings, with the most being five in the fourth. The Spiders committed an error in each of the first four frames, and George Mason capitalized by driving in runs in every one of those innings.
  
Starting pitcher Diego Cardenas (W, 5-5) picked up his fifth win of the season and gave the Patriot pitching staff a strong start, pitching 6.1 innings and struck out a season-high six Spiders.

Senior shortstop Owen Clyne went 2-for-5 with two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored. Junior first baseman Jake Butler went 3-for-4 that included three consecutive singles, two RBI and two runs scored. Graduate student catcher Logan Vaughan, though hitless, was the third Patriot to record two RBI on the day.
 
The Patriots, who were the designated home team for Game 6, struck first in the bottom of the first inning. Senior shortstop Owen Clyne got on base with a one-out double down the right field line. Next up to bat was sophomore left fielder Lucas Alberti, who put a grounder in play that slipped through Spider second baseman Michael Elko's glove and into the outfield. Clyne rounded third to give the Patriots an early 1-0 lead.
 
After a four-pitch top of the second by starting pitcher Diego Cardenas, the Patriots tacked on two more runs in the bottom half of the frame. Freshman second baseman Julius Bagnerise plugged the gap in left center for a leadoff double and later scored, thanks to back-to-back sacrifice efforts by Evan Blanchard (bunt to third) and Vaughan (flyout to right).
 
Junior right fielder Matthew Westley then got on with a hit by pitch, followed by an infield single by freshman third baseman Jackson Morse which advanced Westley to third. The next batter was Clyne, but Richmond starting pitcher Jackson Hinchcliffe (L, 4-6) committed the game's second error with a failed pickoff attempt to Morse on first. With the ball in foul territory, Westley jogged home to extend the 3-0 Patriot lead.
 
Bagnerise would be responsible for two more runs scored for the Patriots in the third. After Luciano Terilli reached to first on the Spiders' third error of the day, this time by first baseman Dylan Winebrenner, Jake Butler singled through the right side, putting Patriot runners on the corners. Bagnerise then pumped the ball to deep right which was initially caught by Spider right fielder Evan Wilson but the ball was shaken loose after he collided into the wall. By the time the ball was relayed back into the infield Bagnerise was at second and both Terilli and Butler touched home pushing the Patriots up 5-0.
 
Richmond found their footing in the top of the fourth, getting back two runs by way of a RJ Johnson, Jr. two-run home run to center which scored Winebrenner. Despite two more Spiders getting on base, Cardenas rallied from the early score and ended the inning with two strikeouts and a flyout.
 
The game was broken wide open in the bottom of the fourth, as the Patriots poured on five. George Mason scored for the fourth consecutive inning as well as capitalizing on a Spider error the fourth straight inning.
 
Westley led off with a double to right, followed by a Morse walk on a full count. Clyne then hit a bases-clearing double down the right field line but would later be caught stealing third in the subsequent Patriot at-bat.
 
The bases would be empty for a short time, as Alberti reached to first on an error, Terilli walked on four pitches, Butler scored an RBI single to score Alberti from second and Bagnerise drew the inning's second four-pitch walk and loaded the bases. Blanchard then drew a bases-loaded RBI walk to score Terilli, and Vaughan recorded an RBI fielder's choice, scoring Butler for the final run of the pivotal inning.
 
After another shutdown inning by Cardenas in the fifth, the Patriots added their 11th run of the game after Butler knocked his third consecutive single of the game, scoring Clyne from second.
 
Richmond began to rally in the seventh, scoring four runs on three hits. However, those four runs would be the last scored by either squad for the remainder of the morning.
 
After Cardenas started the inning with a groundout, he allowed back-to-back Richmond singles. Patriot manager Shawn Camp came out to call in reliever Thomas Parker, but when Parker started off with a four-pitch walk loading the bases and a subsequent hit-by-pitch which walked in a run, Coach Camp went to the bullpen again and called up Brandon Hsu. 
 
Ryan Recio, Hsu's first batter, drew a bases-loaded walk just outside the zone, moving everyone ahead 90 feet and scoring Winebrenner. Following Recio was Reid Downs, who hit an RBI sacrifice fly to center, scoring RJ Johnson from third. The final run scored in the inning was an Aidan Okeefe RBI single through the left side, scoring Chris Schaller.

Hsu and the Patriots were able to get out of the inning with a forceout in second on Noah Haught's fielder's choice hit to third.
 
Owen Stewart finished the game on the mound for the Patriots, putting up two scoreless innings and picking up two strikeouts on only two hits.

UP NEXT
The Patriots' next game will be later this evening at Capital One Park against top-seeded Saint Joseph's. The Red Hawks lost to No. 5 Rhode Island, 17-9, the day prior. 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