George Mason baseball falls to Fordham in series finale

The George Mason baseball team (11-17, 3-6 A-10) fell by the final score of 8-6 to the Fordham Rams (10-18, 2-4) in the final game of the series on Saturday afternoon.

Mason scored three runs in the top of the first and three more runs in the top of the second for an early 6-0 lead. Luke Willis led off the game with a single down the right line and moved to third on a hit-and-run executed by Michael Smith. Brandon Gum’s sacrifice fly drove home Willis for the 1-0 lead and Jake Kalish’s double to right field would put the Patriots up 3-0.

Ray Toto led off the top of the second with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. With one out away Willis singled up the middle to increase the lead to 4-0. He then stole his 18th base of the year and came home on Smith’s first triple of the year. Gum had an RBI groundout that scored Smith to put the Patriots up 6-0 after two innings.

Tyler Zombro kept the Rams off the scoreboard for the first two innings but was touched up for a run in the bottom of the third. He would pitch a clean fourth inning before loading the bases in the bottom of the fifth on an error, single and a hit batter. Ryan Mahoney sent a liner up the middle past the gloves of Zombro and Gum that scored two runs and Ian Edmiston doubled down the left field line to score another two, cutting the Mason lead to one at 6-5. Zombro exited after four and one-third innings with five strikeouts and four earned runs on seven hits.

The Rams tied the game and later took the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to Charles Galiano’s double down the left field line with one out. Fordham tacked on an insurance run in the next inning for the 8-6 final.

Evan Porcella earned his second loss of the season as he pitched one and two-thirds innings, allowing two runs on three hits. Taylor Hunt and Joe Williams combined to pitch the seventh and the eighth. Willis, Smith, Toto and Brady Acker each had multiple hits for the Patriots, who committed four errors defensively.

Next on the schedule is a home contest vs. Mount St. Mary’s on Tuesday, April 7 at 3:00 p.m.​