Ninth Inning Rally Not Enough for Patriots

By Connect Mason Reporter Jeremy Klemm

Despite a late-inning threat, George Mason's baseball team fell to the James Madison Dukes 5-3 on Saturday at Spuhler Field. The loss dropped Mason (19-20, 12-7 CAA) further behind Madison (26-10, 16-4 CAA) in their attempt to climb to second place in the conference.

Down two runs going into the bottom of the ninth inning, the Patriots refused to go away quietly. The heart of Mason’s order started a brief rally with two hard-hit singles off of Madison reliever Turner Phelps – the only two hits Phelps surrendered in two innings of work. Madison responded by bringing in reliever Trevor Knight.

Knight struck out the first two batters he faced, surrendering just a walk before shutting the door on the Patriots. Despite coming in with the tying runs on base in a game with CAA tournament implications, Knight said he had no reason to feel nervous.

“I just throw whatever [pitching coach Ted White] calls,” said Knight, who notched his fourth save of the season.

The score was tied through much of the game, but some clutch hitting by Madison freshman McKinnon Langston gave them the lead in the seventh inning.

After opening the inning by surrendering back-to-back singles, Mason reliever Shawn Griffith settled down to retire the next two Madison batters, and appeared to be on the verge of escaping the inning unscathed. But with two outs and their best scoring opportunity of the game hanging in the balance, Langston drove the first pitch he saw to the right-center gap, scoring two and putting Madison up for good.

“I could see in the pitcher’s eyes that he didn’t want to [throw] anything but a fastball,” said Langston. “I was just trying to stay calm. I looked for a fastball away, and it was a fastball away.”

Mason, meanwhile, had trouble putting anything together against Madison's pitching, particularly off starter Kurt Houck. Houck scattered nine hits over six innings, earning his fifth win of the season.

“We just couldn’t get anything going – string two or three [hits] together,” said Mason coach Bill Brown.

Junior Mike Modica started on the mound for the Patriots and struggled with his control in the early innings. Modica surrendered five hits and walked five batters in five innings of work, but only allowed three runs, in part because he also struck out eight. Modica seemed to gain confidence and composure in his last inning of work, striking out the last three batters that he faced.

“I wasn’t feeling comfortable [with my mechanics], but I really made an adjustment in the fifth inning,” said Modica, who did not figure in the decision.

The Patriots looked deflated after the seventh inning, but seemed to regain some confidence during their ninth-inning rally. Brown indicated that the team is resilient, and he expects them to bounce back both within the game and in tomorrow’s series finale against Madison.

“You just gotta move forward,” said Brown. “Anytime it’s a two-run game, you’re a baserunner and a swing away from it being a tied game.”