Virginia got four innings of one-hit ball from starter Max Stammel, and five innings of shutout baseball from the bullpen, to bail out a stagnant offense in a 5-1 win over George Mason on Tuesday at The Dish.
The ’Hoos (30-16) snapped a three-game losing streak with the win, which didn’t come easy.
Stammel gave up an unearned run in the third. An error by shortstop RJ Holmes, in the lineup again for the injured Eric Becker, allowed Mason leadoff man Vincent Cowdrey to reach.
Stammel then flubbed the throw on a sac bunt by Drew Canody to allow him to reach base, and Cowdrey to advance to third, where he scored on a sac fly from Jackson Morse, to put the Patriots up 1-0.
Joe Tiroly got the run back in the bottom of the third with a 418-foot homer to left.
That one was Tiroly’s ninth home run of the season.
Virginia took the lead in the fourth on a safety squeeze from Holmes that scored Zach Jackson from third, and it was 3-1 after a Kyle Johnson RBI double in the fifth.
It would stay there until the seventh, when Jake Weatherspoon, with two outs and two on, doubled down the left-field line to score both baserunners – Tiroly, who led the inning off with a single, and Johnson, who worked a two-out walk.
Lucas Hartman (9-1, 2.50 ERA) got the win in relief, going 2.2 innings, allowing two hits and striking out three.
Tyler Kapa (1.42 ERA) earned his 11th save of the season, getting the final two outs of the game.
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Chris Graham
