May 22, 2007

Wilmington, N.C. - The Patriots are back. Last year, after making the CAA Baseball Tournament for 19 straight years, Mason missed the post-season tourney after struggling on the final weekend of the season. This year, Mason is back in the six-team double-elimination tournament and facing a very familiar foe.

The Patriots, the fifth seed in the tournament, will take on Delaware on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. It is the third time in the past four years that the tournament has seen Mason play the Blue Hens on the first day. In 2004, Mason scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings before losing to Delaware 8-5 in the 10th. The Blue Hens played in the championship round that year before losing to UNC Wilmington. In 2005, Mason trailed 3-1 before a Casey Slattery grand slam in the sixth put the Patriots on top. After Delaware rallied to tie the game at 5-5, the Patriots scored four in the eighth as Chris Fournier homered to put Mason ahead for good.

Both those previous seasons, Mason had been the higher seed and had won the season series from Delaware. In 2004, Mason was the top seed, Delaware was the sixth seed and the Patriots had swept the Blue Hens. In 2005, Mason was the second seed, Delaware was the fifth seed and Mason had taken two of three from Delaware. This year, it's the Blue Hens that are the higher seed and they took two of three from Mason, including the final two in the early-April series.

The Patriots have the top hitting team in the conference while Delaware has one of the top pitching squads. The Blue Hens have a 4.66 team ERA with their top three starters at 4.01 or better. Billy Harris has a 6-1 record with a 4.01 ERA, Chad Kerfoot is 4-2 with a 3.26 ERA and Brent Gaphardt is 4-2 with a 2.57 ERA. David Slovak has 11 saves with a 2.58 ERA.

The Blue Hens have three regulars batting better than .330. Alex Buchholz is hitting .391 with eight homers and a team-high 55 RBI. Ryan Jabonski is hitting .351 and Adam Tsakonas is hitting .342. Bryan Hagerich is hitting .328 with a team-high 16 homers and 50 RBI and he has 11 steals. Brandon Menchaca has 18 steals but is batting just .283. All told, Delaware is hitting .302 as a team with 59 homers.

Mason, meanwhile, is hitting .322 with 62 homers. Scott Krieger, Chris Fournier and Jason Bour are all batting .274 and all have double-figure homers. Krieger is among the top 10 in the nation and he tied the school's single-season mark with 20 homers. He leads the CAA in that category, as well as RBI, with 68. Bour has 13 homers and 48 RBI while Fournier has 12 homers, 45 RBI and a .471 on-base percentage. Justin Bour leads all CAA freshmen with 14 homers while batting .310 with 55 RBI.

Mason's pitching staff has a 6.53 ERA with Wednesday starter J.J. Pannell at 7-3 with a 5.48 ERA and Thursday starter Dan Jaycox at 2-2 with a 4.44 ERA. Jordan Flasher is 2-4 with a team single-season record 14 saves. He also has a 2.62 ERA.

If Mason wins its opener, it will play on Thursday at 7 p.m. against either Virginia Commonwealth or UNC Wilmington. Should Mason lose its opener, it will play at Noon on Thursday against either Old Dominion or Georgia State.