March 18, 2008

Box Score

FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason baseball team scored four unanswered runs but it was not enough to overcome Marist College as the Red Foxes defeated the Patriots, 5-4, in non-conference action at Spuhler Field on Tuesday afternoon. Mason fell to 7-10 while Marist improved to 3-7 with the win.

Marist starter Richard Cary tossed 5.2 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits while picking up his first victory of the season. For the Patriots, sophomore Kris Mengle (0-2) was tagged with the loss after allowing five runs (one earned) on five hits in five innings of work. The Red Foxes' Eric Alessio recorded the last four outs to notch his second save of the year.

Mason was led on offense by a 3-for-4 day from junior Scott Krieger, while freshman Shane Davis recorded two hits as well. Sophomore Ryan Soares added a pair of RBIs, while five different Red Foxes each had a hit.

After stranding a pair of runners in the first inning, Marist plated the first run of the day in the second inning, when Shane Kingsley lined a base hit into center field, scoring Ricky Pacione to open up a 1-0 Red Foxes lead. Meanwhile, Krieger tallied the Patriots' first hit of the day in the bottom of the fourth with a sharply hit ground ball to third base.

In the top of the fifth, Mason nearly escaped unscathed but a two-out error by Soares kept the inning alive. The next Marist batter, Richard Curylo, lined a deep fly to left, but Krieger was unable to snag the ball as two more runs scored. The defensive troubles continued for Mason, as two errors committed by first baseman Justin Bour allowed the Marist lead to grow to 5-0. Despite the four unearned runs scored, Mengle did not allow a hit in the frame.

Mason responded in the bottom half with a pair of two-out hits to left field, including Weiss's double which put two Patriots in scoring position. However, Mason was unable to capitalize as a groundout to Cary ended the threat.

The Patriots continued the offensive production into the sixth inning, starting off with a pair of singles by sophomore Chris Henderson and Krieger. Both would cross the plate to close the deficit to 5-2 when Soares dropped a two-RBI double down the right field line. Mason tacked on another run two batters later, as redshirt freshman Aaron Tenney singled to left, allowing Soares to score from second.

After continuing to hold the Red Foxes at bay through eight innings, Mason led off the bottom of the eighth with a Krieger double. Krieger, who took third on a passed ball, would come home to score on an RBI grounder by Soares. With the score 5-4, sophomore Mark Hill doubled to put the tying run in scoring position with two outs, but was left on base as a strikeout ended the inning.

Down by one in the bottom of the ninth, Davis dropped a base hit into left field to lead off the inning. After being sacrificed over by Weiss, Davis stood 90 feet from tying the game when junior Spencer Wiggins's groundout advanced him to third base. However, Alessio retired Henderson on a flyout to end the game.

The Red Foxes and Patriots continue their midweek series on Wednesday at Spuhler Field at 2:30 p.m.