Updated: April 8, 2019 at 7:21 p.m.
Baseball earned its first series win in three weeks after taking two of three games against George Mason on the road.
The Colonials’ (18-13, 4-5 A-10) dynamic offense overwhelmed the Patriots (12-18, 1-8 A-10), scoring 26 runs throughout the series. In a doubleheader Saturday, GW won the first game 16–7 and gave up a 13–2 loss to the Patriots in the second game. The Colonials took the series 8–5 Sunday in a rubber match to close out the weekend.
Senior utility player Dom D’Alessandro led the Colonials’ offense throughout the three games with seven hits, including with two home runs.
Game one
The Colonials’ bats packed a punch in their 16–7 win Saturday, connecting on 18 hits – 10 of which went for extra bases.
Efficiency separated the Colonials from the Patriots in Saturday’s matchup. GW left only six players on base compared to George Mason’s 18 stranded baserunners, hamstringing whatever offense it managed to produce.
The Colonials wasted no time, scoring two runs off three consecutive base hits in the first inning. A double by freshman outfielder Cade Fergus put him in scoring position and a triple by junior utility player Steve Barmakian brought Fergus home.
Junior right-handed pitcher Elliott Raimo put on a solid performance through four innings of work on the mound for GW. After allowing a home run on a 3-1 count in the bottom of the first inning, he found his groove and induced two quick outs.
The Colonials took junior right-handed pitcher Jared Dicesare for a ride in the fourth inning. Fergus and D’Alessandro swung the bat with power, both hitting two-run bombs deep into left field.
The squad tacked on four more runs in the top of the sixth, extending GW’s lead 13–2. But in the same inning, the Patriots clawed back, benefitting from a slew of misfires from senior left-handed pitcher Pat Knight. Knight hit one batter, allowed a single and gave up three walks, two with the bases loaded.
[gwh_image id=”1085059″ credit=”Olivia Anderson | Photo Editor” align=”none” size=”embedded-img”]Redshirt senior pitcher Kevin Hodgson watches game one from the dugout.[/gwh_image]
In the final three innings, the Colonials raked in two extra-base hits to bring three runners home. The Patriots rallied in the ninth inning but couldn’t catch up with the Colonials and scored seven runs on the day.
Game two
GW could not muster the same offense in the second game of the day Saturday, turning in a 13–2 loss to the Patriots.
The team gave up 15 hits to George Mason and managed only two of its own, belying the Colonials’ previous offensive windfall.
GW owed its scant offense more to shoddy George Mason defense than to its own offensive merit.
In the fourth inning, a fielding error allowed junior infielder Nate Fassnacht to score, and then a wild pitch sent D’Alessandro home after he singled to get on base.
“I’d have like to see them have a little more fight in them in the second game,” head coach Gregg Ritchie said. “The plan was not executed with intent. Whether you get hits or not, that’s not the point, it’s the intention.”
Redshirt senior right-handed pitcher Brady Renner had a rough outing, going two innings and giving up six runs, five hits, three walks and three strikeouts. The Patriots’ racked up six runs in the bottom of the second inning, forcing the Colonials to pull from the bullpen to start the third.
GW’s season-long bullpen struggles flared up again as freshman right-handed reliever Alex Kobersteen allowed five runs in the bottom of the fourth after replacing Renner. Three more relievers followed Kobersteen, giving up two final runs to the Patriots in the bottom of the sixth frame.
Game three
Coming off a shaky second game, the Colonials capped off the series finale with an 8–5 victory over the Patriots.
The Patriots’ starting pitcher imploded in the first inning, giving up six runs off six hits and recording only one out, forcing George Mason to turn to its bullpen before the inning was over.
Fergus got things rolling with a double in his first at-bat. Five more Colonial hits followed, aided by a walk, a wild pitch and a hit by pitch, putting GW up 6–0 by the second inning.
Fergus frequented the bases throughout the contest, hitting a single and a double while inducing three walks in his five plate appearances.
Senior right-handed pitcher Nate Woods started on the mound after taking nearly a month off due to injury. Woods delivered three scoreless innings and kept GW’s lead on lock.
The Patriots did not threaten the Colonials’ lead until the fourth inning. Junior right-handed reliever Jaret Edwards gave up two runs in his first inning of work, allowing a single and walking two batters.
The Patriots attempted an eighth-inning rally, scoring three runs to cut the Colonial’s lead to 8–5. But Edwards regained control, inducing a double play to end both the inning and George Mason’s scoring efforts.
This post was updated to reflect the following correction:
A previous version of this article misspelled freshman pitcher Alex Kobersteen’s name. It has been corrected. We regret this error.
