Baseball eeks out win over George Washington

Senior Brig Tison has had a hot bat all season, and he helped the Patriots sneak by George Washington Wednesday afternoon in Fairfax (photo courtesy GMU Baseball).

On an overcast Wednesday afternoon, the George Mason Patriots defeated the George Washington Colonials 5-4 in dramatic fashion.

In this continuation of the “Battle of the Orange Line,” the Colonials were seeking their first win at Mason’s home field since 2005, but came up just short.

Freshman starting pitcher John Williams (3-1) got the win for the Patriots, scattering six hits over seven solid innings, while allowing only one run and striking out seven and walking two.

The Patriots scored the first runs of the game in the bottom of the first inning. Senior Brig Tison and sophomore Dan Schafferman both reached on singles. With two outs and two runners on base, sophomore Josh Leemhuis hit a sharp grounder to the Colonials second baseman Justin Albright. Albright was not able to handle the ball, and it rolled into right field, allowing Tison and Schafferman to score.

In the top of the third the Colonials answered back.
Albright beat out an infield hit, and then advanced to second base on a ball in the dirt.

Colonial senior Stephen Oswald moved Albright over to third base on a ground out. Brett Bowers came up to bat next and hit a ball directly to Mason shortstop Jordan Hill. The sophomore was unable to handle the hard hit ball, which allowed Albright to score from third base.

In the top of the fourth inning, freshman starting pitcher John Williams began to find his grove, retiring three straight Colonial batters.
The Patriots again began to make some noise in the bottom half of the fourth inning. Josh Leemhuis led off with a triple, and the next batter, Blaise Fernandez, knocked him in with a base hit.

This gave the Patriots a 3-1 lead.

Sophomore Mick Foley came up next and starting Colonials pitcher J.T. Wauford hit him square in the arm.

With men on first and second, catcher Ray Toto moved the runners up a base with a bunt to the left side of the infield. Jordan Hill came up next and scored Fernandez with a sacrifice fly to right field.

Williams again fooled Colonial hitters in the top of the sixth inning, allowing only one hit. Even when leadoff hitter Matt Murakami singled and stole second, he maintained his composure and confidence. He would eventually strike out Albright on an inside curveball to end the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Zack Helgeson homered to left field off of new Colonials pitcher Eric Lara. It was his ninth of the season, good for first in the CAA.

Mason stood with a 5-1 lead going into the eighth inning.

However, after having put in a solid seven innings pitched, Williams was pulled for lefty Sean Cabrera.

Oswald led off the inning with a single. Cabrera got Brett Bowers to pop-out, but Derek Brown registered his first hit of the game. With two on base, Owen Beightol came up to the plate and drew a walk.

With the bases loaded, Colonials catcher Jimmy Best came up to the plate. Cabrera was able to strike out senior catcher, but walked the next batter Tyler McCarthy.

The score was 5-2.

Cabrera was pulled in favor of sophomore righthander Neight Hoffa with Colonials centerfielder Ryan Hickey stepping up to the plate. Hoffa got ahead of Hickey 0-2 in the count, but the Colonials batter was able to drive a single into the outfield to knock in two runs.

The score was then 5-4.

Hoffa retired the next batter, Murakami, on a high fastball out of the strike zone, ending the threat.

The Patriots remained silent in the bottom of the eighth inning, and the score stayed 5-4 heading into the ninth inning.

The surging Colonials attempted to complete their comeback, but closer Jake Kalish had other thoughts. He retired the first batter, but allowed Oswald to reach on a single to left field. He struck out Bowers on an inside fastball, and got Brown to ground out to end the game.  It was his third save of the season.

The Patriots face the Tribe of William and Mary in their next series at home this weekend. The games are at 3pm, 2pm and 1pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday respectively.