May 21, 2009
WILMINGTON, NC--Top seed George Mason (42-10) exploded for nine runs in the third inning en route to an 11-5 victory over the fourth seed Old Dominion Monarchs in the second round of the Colonial Athletic Association Baseball Tournament. ODU ends the season at 22-27.
The Monarchs took a 1-0 lead in the first when All-CAA third baseman Jake McAloose (Virginia Beach, Va.) hit his sixth homer of the season.The Patriots then rallied for nine runs led by a grand slam homer from Ryan Soares, then a three-runshot by Spencer Wiggins.
Wiggins led the day with five RBI which included two doubles and a homer. Soares knocked in four withthe grand slam. Wiggins and Justin Bour each had three hits for the Patriots, ranked 27th nationally.All-CAA pitcher Mike Modica picked up his league leading 11th win of the season.
The Monarchs loaded the bases in the third inning, but were unable to score and didn't get another hituntil Chris Buss(Rosemont, MN.) led off the seventh with a double. He later scored on an RBI sacrifice fly by Max Most (Port Washington, NY.). Jake McAloose knocked in pinch runner Kennny Stoneback (Colonial Heights, VA.) with a bases loaded walk in the seventh.
ODU scored two more runs in the ninth on a two-run single by CAA All-Rookie firstbaseman Josh Wright(Bridgewater, VA.) which plated Most and McAloose.Most, and All-CAA junior shortstop Gerard Hall (Washington, DC.) each had two hits for ODU. Hall endsthe season with a 19-game hitting streak.
McAloose finishes the season with a .413 batting average and becomes the 16th Monarch to hit 400 orBetter. The last to do it were Jared Musolf (.413) and All-American shortstop Tim Hummel (.408) in2000. Earlier in the day Delaware eliminated Northeastern, 9-5.
GMU 009 0000 110 11-11-2ODU 100 000 202 -5-8-1GMU Battery: Mike Mordica, Ben Reade(7) and Chris Henderson
Brady Burchill, Cory Toth(3), Brandon Smith (8), Matt Walls(9) and Edgar HernandezWP: Mordica (11-1)LP:Burchill (3-4)
HR: ODU- McAloose(6).GMU- Wiggins(3), Soares(11)