Towson rolls over George Mason 16-8
Because of Wednesday night’s late loss to Delaware, 8-7, Towson faced George Mason in an elimination game early Thursday morning. Despite playing just 10 hours after their last game ended, the Tigers came up with a season sweep over the Patriots in a decisive 16-8 victory.
The Tigers showed no sign of exhaustion as they opened up the game with three runs in the bottom of the first inning.
Junior catcher Andrew Parker doubled down the line to send sophomore Kurt Wertz, freshman Brandon Butler and sophomore Dominic Fratantuono home.
The Patriots scored one run in the second inning, but Towson added two more runs in the bottom of the third to keep its lead 5-1.
Butler singled to centerfield before stealing second. Parker walked while Butler stole third on a wild pitch, then sophomore Pat Fitzgerald took to the plate. He hit a double to right centerfield, getting Parker and Butler home before senior Ben Winter popped it up to end the inning.
George Mason continued to go scoreless in the fourth inning, but that didn’t stop the Tigers from adding two more runs on two hits.
Sophomore Brandon Gonnella was hit with a pitch, earning him a walk to first. He then stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error. Redshirt sophomore Zach Fisher singled to get Gonnella home. Fisher advanced to second on a wild pitch and Butler walked. Fratantuono singled, getting Butler to second and Fisher home. Parker ended the inning with a grounder to George Mason’s pitcher, leaving Towson with a 7-1 lead.
Both teams had a quiet fifth inning with no runs scored, but the sixth was the most active inning of the game for the Tigers.
The Patriots started the inning getting two runs of their own, cutting the Tigers’ lead to 7-3, but Towson responded with five runs of its own.
Gonnella walked, but then Fisher hit a triple to left centerfield to send Gonnella home. On the next play, Wertz singled getting Fisher home. Fitzgerald walked with the bases loaded, getting Wertz home. Winter flied out to right field, with Butler coming home. Fitzgerald got taken out at second base, caught stealing, but a fluke play by George Mason gave Parker enough time to score for the Tigers, bringing Towson’s lead to 12-3.
The seventh inning was George Mason’s best of the day. The Patriots scored four runs to cut down Towson’s lead 12-7. While Towson couldn’t extend its lead in the bottom of the seventh, the team took back control in the bottom of the eighth.
Towson sealed the game with a four-run eighth inning.
With Fratantuono, Butler and Fitzgerald on the bases, Winter came up to the plate. He singled down to left field, stole second on an error and got all three Tigers home. Winter advanced to third on a wild pitch and Gonnella singled up the middle, getting Winter to score unearned. The inning ended with Towson in the lead 16-7.
George Mason would only score one run in the top of the ninth inning, leaving Towson with a 16-8 win.
The Tigers were out-hit 18-13, but recorded no errors to the Patriots’ two. The 16 runs were their most scored in a game this season. The second-most was the 14 runs they scored against Maryland Eastern Shore on May 8.
Towson will play again tonight at 8:30; its opponent is still to be decided.
