FARMVILLE, Va. – Early home runs put George Mason on top, and the Patriots (12-12) took down Longwood baseball 13-6 on a crisp, cool Wednesday night.
Hayden Harris,
James Nelson and
Luis DeLeon all had multi-hit games for Longwood, but South Trimble and Jordan Smith hit big home runs for the Patriots in a sloppy game that saw seven combined errors between the two sides.
SCORE:
R H E
GMU 13 11 3
LWU 6 8 4
Top Longwood Performers:
Hayden Harris: 2-4, 2R, 2 RBI, 2B, HR |
James Nelson: 2-3, R, RBI |
Luis DeLeon: 2-4, R
HOW IT HAPPENED:
George Mason jumped out front after loading the bases with two outs in the second. Trimble hit a grand slam over the left field wall for his first home run of the season for a 4-0 lead, and the Patriots plated three more runs in the second inning.
However, Longwood hung around in both the second and third. Harris cranked an RBI double for Longwood in the second to open the scoring for the Lancers, and back-to-back RBI groundouts from
Drew Camp and
Corbin McCloud trimmed the lead to one.
After GMU went up 7-3, Nelson added an RBI single in the third that cut the lead to 7-4. Harris clobbered a solo home run to left-center in the fourth, and the Lancers closed the gap to 7-5.
The score stayed there until the Patriots got going in the eighth inning. Bennett Shea swatted a double down the line to plate a pair of runs, and the Patriots proceeded to score six runs over the final two innings to extend the lead and put the game out of reach.
Mason Posey (1-1) earned the win after pitching the fifth inning in relief. He tossed 1.1 scoreless innings and only gave up one hit for George Mason.
Cole Taylor (0-5) took the loss for Longwood. He was charged with six runs on three hits and four walks, and he pitched into the third inning.
WHAT THEY SAID:
"This was definitely a good reminder to our guys that everything matters," said Longwood Head Coach
Chad Oxendine. "Credit to George Mason. They played well and took advantage of their opportunities. The details are just so important, and we have to have them be a part of everything we do. Baseball is hard enough as it is, and if we don't focus on those details, it will cost us like it did tonight."
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Luis DeLeon had his second straight multi-hit game for Longwood for the first time this season.
Hayden Harris had his fourth multi-hit game of the season.
The home run was Harris's second of the year. He hit his first on Saturday, February 18 against Mount St. Mary's.
For DeLeon, it was his fourth multi-hit game of the campaign.
Nelson had a pair of base hits for his sixth multi-hit game this year.
Sean Gibbons tossed two scoreless relief innings and worked around two base hits and two walks.
UP NEXT:
Longwood plays host to High Point this weekend for a three-game series that runs from Friday to Sunday, March 31-April 1. Friday is slated to begin at 6 p.m., with Saturday's game scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday's game will be aired on ESPN+ and will begin at 1 p.m.
#GoWood #HorsePower
