Six runs came across in the second inning for the George Mason baseball team (20-14-1, 9-9) as it used the outbreak to hang on in an 8-7 series-clinching victory over Davidson (23-18, 12-9) on Sunday.
For the third time this weekend the Wildcats scored the first runs of the ballgame, pulling ahead 3-0 after the first one-and-a-half innings. David Daniels hit his eighth homerun of the season in the top of the first off of Tyler Zombro and Davidson used a double, a hit batsman and two singles to score two runs in the second.
The lead was short lived however as Mason piled on six runs with only four hits in the bottom half of the second. Brady Acker first reached on an error by third baseman Ben Arkin and Trevor Kelly singled to put two men on with zero outs. They were advanced by Jake Kalish’s sacrifice bunt before Ray Totosingled into left field to score Acker. Derek Evans was hit by a pitch on a 1-2 count to reload the bases and the Patriots would take advantage.
Luke Willis doubled down the right field line for the first of two times today after the hit-by-pitch to score two runners and tie the game up at three. Brandon Gum and Kent Blackstone drew back-to-back walks, giving RBI opportunities to Tyler Nelin and Acker who batted for the second time in the inning for the 6-3 advantage. Blackstone’s walk also drove home a run, his 41st RBI of the season.
The offense came back in the bottom of the third with two more runs, both off of the bat of Gum on a double down the left field line that scored Kalish and Willis. Gum went 2-4 and Willis 2-5 to prolong their active hit streaks to an impressive 23 and 22 games.
Zombro pitched quiet third, fourth and fifth innings before the Wildcats jumped for three more in the top of the sixth on a two-RBI double from Alec Acosta and an RBI groundout. The Virginia native lasted seven complete innings in his sixth win of the year (6-1), allowing six earned runs with a walk and a strikeout.
Evan Porcella pitched a perfect eighth inning on only nine pitches, and after allowing one run to score in the top of the ninth Tyler Tobin saved his seventh game of the season for the Patriots.
Mason travels for its final regular season road series this coming weekend with three games in Philadelphia, Pa. against La Salle. Action begins on Friday, May 8 at 3:00 p.m.
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