Prince William Reporter

Patriots Drop Midweek Matchup to William & Mary

 The George Mason baseball fell to William & Mary, 16-10, on Tuesday afternoon at Spuhler Field in Fairfax, Va.

The game was the final contest of a 13-game homestand for the Patriots.  Mason's seven game winning streak came to an end.
 
Mason (11-9) fell behind in the first inning when William & Mary (12-10, 3-3 CAA) batted around and scored four runs on three hits against Patriots freshman starter Connor Knox.
 
Tribe graduate student left fielder Luke Smith drove in two runs with a single, senior third baseman Ben Williamson plated a run with a triple and junior catcher Nate Goranson knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly to put the Tribe in front, 4-0.
 
The Patriots responded in the home half of the first against Tribe freshman starter Owen Pierce. 
 
Senior third baseman South Trimble walked, stole second and went to third on an error.  Senior second baseman Brett Stallings then walked to put runners on the corners.  Junior center fielder Jordan Smith followed with a single to right to put the Patriots on the board.
 
Freshman left fielder James Quinn-Irons tied the game with one swing, smashing a three-run home run over the left field fence for his fourth round-tripper of the season to make it 4-4.
 
In the top of the second, William & Mary sent 10 batters to the plate and scored seven runs on five hits against Patriots senior Mason Posey and sophomore Britt Yount to build an 11-4 advantage.
 
The Patriots got a run back in the bottom of the second.  Trimble led off with an infield single and stole both second and third.  Stallings then grounded to short, with Trimble coasting home to make it 11-5.
 
The Tribe added a pair of runs in the top of the third on a sacrifice fly and a ground out against Mason freshman Logan Rumberg to increase the lead to 13-5.
 
The Patriots scored a single run in the fifth against Tribe sophomore Nick Lottchea on a RBI-single by Quinn-Irons to make it a 13-6 game.
 
William & Mary added two runs in the sixth inning off Mason freshman Tyler Herkey and another in the eighth inning against graduate student Kyle Smith to pad the lead to 16-6.
 
The Patriots sent eight batters to the plate in the bottom of the eighth and scored four runs on three hits against Tribe freshman reliever Bobby McDonough. 
 
With one out, sophomore first baseman Reece Woody singled, freshman catcher Bennett Shealor drew a walk and sophomore shortstop Carsen Pracht was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
 
Junior right fielder Derek Wood drove in a run with a single to center, Trimble followed with a two-run single up the middle and Stallings knocked in another with a ground out to cut the Tribe lead to 16-10.  Those would be the final runs of the game.
 
The Patriots used nine pitchers in the game.  Knox allowed four runs on three hits and retired two batters in his second start.  Posey (0-1) gave up four runs on three hits and retired one batter and took the loss.  Yount allowed three unearned runs on two hits in 1.0 inning.  Rumberg surrendered two unearned runs in 1.0 inning.
 
Freshman Ryan Edmonds tossed 2.0 hitless innings, while both junior Christian Mracna and graduate student Nolan Lamere each pitched 1.0 hitless inning.
 
For the Tribe, Pierce (2-1) allowed five runs on four hits in 3.0 innings and picked up the win.  Lottchea gave up one run on two hits in 3.0 innings.  McDonough surrendered four runs on three hits in 2.0 innings.  Graduate student Brian Craven pitched the ninth.
 
Quinn-Irons went 2-for-5 with a home run and four RBI, Trimble reached base five times and was 2-for-3 with two RBI and three runs scored and Stallings drove in a pair of runs.
 
The Patriots play their next nine games on the road beginning Friday with three games at East Carolina.  The first pitch for game one of the series is scheduled for 6 p.m. 

Original source can be found here