WILMINGTON, N.C. - Third-seeded George Mason rallied back from a seven-run deficit to edge fourth-seeded William and Mary, 8-7, in 10 innings during the opening day of CAA Tournament action at Brooks Field in Wilmington, N.C. The Tribe (35-20) will play against the winner of top-seeded UNC Wilmington and sixth-seeded Towson on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
After the College took a 7-0 lead with seven runs in the fifth inning, the Patriots (29-23) gradually rallied back and tied the score when Mark Hill hit a two-out, three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth. Scott Krieger then plated the game-winning run with a two-out hit in the bottom of the 10th.
Junior Mike Sheridan broke the program's single-season record for runs scored (74) and finished the afternoon 2-for-5 with a run and a stolen base. Junior Ben Guez hit a three-run home run, while senior Greg Maliniak went 2-for-5 with a RBI, a run scored and a stolen base. Junior Tyler Stampone posted a 2-for-4 effort with a run scored and a RBI, while classmate Lanny Stanfield went 1-for-3 and drove in a pair of runs.
Sophomore Kevin Landry earned the start and pitched 5.0 strong innings with seven strikeouts. Senior Sean Grieve worked two scoreless innings in relief and struck out four.
After neither team scored through the first four innings, the Tribe broke the game open with seven runs in the fifth to take a 7-0 lead. Junior Williamson got things started with a single to left, and Stanfield took first when he was hit by a pitch. After senior Paul Juliano reached on a fielder's choice to put runners on the corners, Stampone drove in the contest's first run with a single to center. Guez then hit a three-run blast over the left field fence off a 2-1 offering. Sheridan followed with a single to right and senior Tim Park drew a walk before Maliniak registered a RBI single up the middle. Mason's Kris Mengle then entered the game in relief for starter Mike Modica. After junior Rob Nickle drew a walk to load the bases, Stanfield drove in two more runs with a two-out single up the middle.
Mason got a pair of runs back in the bottom half of the inning when Krieger hit a two-out two-run blast over the center field fence.
GMU narrowed the margin to 7-4 with a pair of runs in the sixth inning. Mark Hill registered a leadoff single to right, and Brent Weiss followed with a walk. After Grieve entered the game for Landry, Ryan Uphouse singled to left to load the bases. Ryan Soares later drove in a run with a one-out single to shallow right, while Chris Henderson plated another score when he grounded out to second. With runners on second and third and the tying run at the plate, Grieve ended the threat when he struck out Krieger swinging.
While neither team put any runs across in the seventh and eighth innings, GMU tied the score in the bottom of the ninth with Hill's two-out, three-run homer. Justin Bour got things started with a two-out single to right off reliever Pat Kantakevich, and Josh Steinberg followed with a single up the middle. Kantakevich nearly ended the contest with a strikeout, but his 1-2 pitch was called a ball and Hill hit the next pitch over the center field wall.
With one out in the 10th inning, Spencer Wiggins doubled to left. After Soares grounded out, Henderson drew an intentional walk to put runners on first and second. Krieger then hit a 3-2 pitch off the right field wall to bring in the game-winning run.
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