The Patriots capped a 2-3 week by winning two of three games over the weekend to capture their first Colonial Athletic Association series of the season. George Mason lost at Virginia Tuesday, 11-8, and at Maryland Wednesday, 11-3, before returning to Fairfax to face UNC Wilmington. The teams split a doubleheader Saturday, George Mason winning the first game, 10-6, before dropping a 9-6 decision in the second game, then the Patriots won Sunday's rubber match by a 10-7 score to improve to 14-18 overall, 4-8 in the CAA.
Virginia ran out to an 11-2 lead after four innings Tuesday in Charlottesville, but the Patriots rallied with four runs in the fifth and two in the seventh to make it a ballgame. Sophomore Scott Morrison had three hits and two runs batted in to lead George Mason, and freshmen Greg Filson (two RBI) and Mark Gibbs each added two hits. Senior Drew Johnson (0-1) took the loss on the mound.
Freshman hurler Kevin Kawecki (3-2), who had won three straight decisions, did not have his good stuff at Maryland Wednesday as the Terrapins rocked him for nine runs and 10 hits through five innings. The Patriots finally got on the scoreboard in the seventh and added two more runs in the eighth as junior Lee Kansteiner (Robinson HS) was 2-2 with two RBI after entering the game as a defensive replacement in the sixth inning.
George Mason scored 10 runs in the first three innings and held off a late UNC Wilmington rally to defeat the Seahawks in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader at Raymond H. "Hap" Spuhler Field. The Patriots took advantage of timely hitting by Kansteiner (three RBI) and junior Trey Mosgovoy (two RBI) to build a 10-2 lead after three innings. Mosgovoy's two-run double capped a four-run first inning, and Kansteiner's two-run single in the second gave the Patriots a 7-0 lead. UNC Wilmington made it a game with four runs in the top of the eighth, but freshman Michael Steller came on to shut the door and preserve the victory for junior starter Shawn Camp (Robinson HS), who improved to 3-2. Juniors Jody Rutherford (Fairfax HS), Andy Devitt and Mike Colangelo (Hylton HS) and sophomore Trevor Haas (South Lakes HS) each had two hits to lead the Patriots.
In the second game, the Seahawks jumped on George Mason senior Scott Lavender (3-3) for six runs in the first inning before the Patriots rallied with two runs in the fourth and three in the fifth to cut the margin to 8-5. Colangelo drove in four runs, two on his sixth triple of the season in the fifth, and junior Chris Martine, Morrison and Filson each had two hits.
Senior Rick Visconti, Colangelo and Mosgovoy each had three hits and freshman Derek Ashcraft pitched 3 innings of solid relief to lead George Mason to a victory Sunday. The Patriots took an 8-1 lead after four innings as Visconti (3-4) led off the second inning with his second home run, and Colangelo (3-4, 3 RBI) added a two-run single in the frame. Mosgovoy (3-5, 4 RBI) blasted his fifth homer, a two-run shot, to cap the fourth for the Patriots. Ashcraft (2-0) came on in the fifth to get the Patriots out of a jam and proceeded to strike out five while allowing just two hits over the next three innings.
Colangelo continues to lead the Patriots in batting average (.384), doubles (13), triples (6), RBI (39) and slugging percentage (.688), and as of March 30, his average of 0.19 triples per game tied him for 14th in the nation in the NCAA statistics. Morrison is batting .356 with 19 RBI, and Haas is hitting .331 with a team-high nine stolen bases.
The Patriots remain at home early this week to host Maryland-Baltimore County Tuesday and Howard Wednesday, with both games beginning at 3 p.m. George Mason then travels to Greenville, NC, to meet East Carolina in a three-game CAA series next weekend. Saturday's doubleheader and Sunday's single game are both scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.
Baseball Contact: Ben Trittipoe (993-3263)