FARMVILLE, Va. – The little things bit Longwood on Tuesday afternoon in a 4-3 loss against George Mason. The Patriots (4-2) pushed across four runs on five walks and four hits in the fifth and sixth innings that nullified an early three-run Lancer (3-5) lead.
 
"We talk about the little things and how they matter and how they add up," said Longwood head baseball coach Ryan Mau. "And tonight that was the difference."
 
Longwood starter Nick Fuchs got into trouble in the fifth inning after Logan Driscoll drew a walk with two outs that put runners on the corners. Andrew Melnyk came on in relief, but Greg Popatak hit a triple to left field before three straight walks pushed him across as the tying run. Gage Williams relieved Melnyk and escaped the fifth without further damage.
 
"I thought Fuchs did a good job today of giving us an opportunity to win a ballgame," said Mau. "He put himself in some sticky situations, but was able to escape. We went to a guy out of the pen that just didn't challenge the zone enough tonight, and that hurt us."
 
"I thought Gage came out and got us out of a bases loaded situation as well," said Mau.
 
In the sixth, Alejandro Aponte led off with a walk for George Mason (4-2) before a double put two in scoring position with no outs. John Gregory took over for Williams on the mound and forced a popup, but Logan Driscoll poked a RBI single up the middle to put George Mason up 4-3. Gregory erased the next two batters, but the damage was done. Williams (0-2) was tagged with the loss
 
Gregory kept the Lancers close and closed the game out with four scoreless innings while striking out a season-high four without giving up a walk.
 
"John Gregory continues to do what he is capable of," said Mau. "We've put him, early on this season, in some very tough positions that we need to try to avoid going forward which means we need more help out of our bullpen. John did a great job of mixing all of his pitches in the zone and challenging hitters. He wants to be in those situations, and that's probably the biggest thing that we look for."
 
"We need more guys to step up," said Mau. "We need guys to make some plays when called upon. We need some guys out of our bullpen that want to be in those situations."
 
Longwood jumped out to a quick lead in the first inning behind a leadoff home run by Antwaun Tucker. He smashed the first pitch he saw over the left field wall and picked up his first homer and went 2-5 at the plate for his third multi-hit game. Cullan Wadsworth and Jawan McAllister kept the line moving with singles before Carlos Garrido and De'Andre Pitts knocked them in for a 3-0 lead.
 
George Mason starter Patrick Halligan (1-0) calmed down after the first and pitched four scoreless innings afterwards in his collegiate debut to pick up the win. He struck out three in his five innings.
 
"I thought offensively we came out ready to go, and then I thought we let that starter settle in," said Mau. "We had an opportunity to chase that starter out of the game, and we missed that opportunity. That's something we've got to address. We talk about having a guy on the ropes and trying to get in that bullpen as early as possible."
 
Longwood heads out to Hawaii for a four-game series with the Rainbow Warriors that opens up on Friday.
 
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