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#25 Virginia Baseball Defeats George Mason, 9-5
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March 24, 2004
FAIRFAX, Va. – The #25 ranked Virginia baseball team (19-5) rallied from a 5-2 deficit after five innings of play to recorded a 9-5 come-from-behind victory over the home standing George Mason Patriots (13-7) at GMU’s Spuhler Field. UVa improved to 9-1 on road with the victory.
It had been nearly a year since the George Mason baseball team had suffered a loss at home but Virginia made certain they were not the latest victim as the school-record home winning streak was snapped at 18 games. The last time George Mason had lost was on March 25, 2003 vs. Richmond.
The Patriots looked strong early. Despite surrendering a pair of first-inning runs on a walk by Matt Street, a double by Mark Reynolds and an error by Chris Looze on a grounder by Ryan Zimmerman, the Patriots rebounded in the bottom of the first with a two-run homer by Chris Looze to plate Jeff Palumbo, who had reached on the single.
The Patriots took the lead in the third when Palumbo walked, Bruce Baldwin singled and Palumbo scored on an error. It became 4-2 when Nick Shimer and Robby Jacobsen had back-to-back singles to score Baldwin. Adam Innerst and Matt Barrett were each hit by pitches to score Shimer and it was 5-2. The damage could have been worse when Jimmy Freund faced off against reliever Scott Morgenthaler. Freund appeared to reach on a fielder’s choice, driving home Jacobsen in the process, but Barrett was called for runner’s interference and Freund was called out, ending the inning.
It stayed 5-2 until the top of the sixth when a lead-off single by Zimmerman was followed by a single from Matt Dunn and a double steal to put runners on second and third. Paul Gillispie grounded out to make it 5-3 and Scott Headd doubled home Dunn to make it 5-4.
The wheels feel off for the Patriots in the eighth when Joe Koshansky led off with a towering home run to right to tie the game at 5-5. Dunn singled and starter Eric Gibbons’ day was ended. Josh Darby had a pinch-hit single to put runners on the corners and after a pop out, Kyle Werman singled to make it 6-5. Tim Henry made it 7-5 on a single and the inning’s fourth run scored on a wild pitch. The game’s final run came in the ninth when Zimmerman led off with a double and Koshansky singled him home. Koshansky was 2 for 5 with two RBI and a run scored. Zimmerman and Dunn were also 2 for 5.
Bruce Baldwin, Adam Innerst and Jimmy Freund each had two hits for the Patriots. Eric Gibbons (2-3) took the loss while Morgenthaler (1-0) earned his first win of the year. The difference in the game were the bullpens as George Mason’s allowed three runs and five hits in two innings while Virginia’s allowed no runs and four hits in six and two-third innings.
UVa will return to action on March 26-28 when the Cavaliers travel to Raleigh, N.C. to face the N.C. State Wolfpack in a three-game series at Doak Field.