By Brian T. Chan, Sports Editor and Cody Norman, Staff Writer
Streak Snapped at Six
Entering Tuesday afternoon’s contest against the Richmond Spiders, the George Mason University baseball team posted six consecutive victories dating back to their March 2 loss at the hands of the Spiders.
A solo homerun from senior shortstop Ryan Soares followed by a two-out RBI single by senior third baseman Mark Hill gave the Patriots an early advantage, but a fourth-inning homerun off the bat of Billy Barber knotted the game at 2 apiece.
Richmond took the lead for good. Phil Ruzbarsky led off the fifth inning with a solo homerun against sophomore pitcher Ryan Pfaeffle.
Soares, sophomore center fielder Jeremy Haas, junior first baseman Dan Palumbo and senior designated hitter Josh Steinberg each recorded at least two hits for the Patriots, but the team stranded a total of 11 runners on base.
Pfaeffle took the loss and fell to 1-3 on the season while Richmond’s Jared Bard picked up the win in relief, and Barber earned his third save of the season.
Bison Stampede Over Patriots in Doubleheader
The George Mason University softball team took the field against the Howard Bison on Wednesday afternoon for mid-week doubleheaders and dropped both contests to lower their record to 7-9 this season.
A first-inning homerun off the bat of Howard’s Courtney Young gave the Bison an early lead in game one.
The Bison plated three more in the second inning and added another in the third inning before Mason dented the scoreboard in the bottom of the third inning. But, by then, the damage was done, and the Patriots fell 6-2 in the opening contest.
Freshman Amanda Buffington threw nearly four innings of scoreless relief as she allowed just one hit while striking out three batters.
In the second game of the afternoon, Howard posted multiple runs in each of the first three innings and jumped out to a 9-0 lead.
Bison pitcher Carly Martin held the Patriots to just three hits and did not allow a runner to advance past second base as Howard headed home with an impressive 9-0 shutout over the Patriots.
Men’s Tennis Tops Howard
Sophomore Jorge Osuna won a crucial second set of his singles match, defeating Devard Wharton of the Howard Bison as the George Mason University men’s tennis team brought its three-game losing streak to an end in the 5-2 win.
With Mason ahead 3-2 in singles and Osuna up a set, the Patriots looked to avoid heading into doubles play tied at 3.
Osuna inched past Wharton 7-5 in the second set, and despite losing the first doubles match, the Patriots took two of three to wrap up their successful day.
Freshman Patrick Mulquin defeated his opponent 6-2, 6-4 at No. 3 singles, and sophomore Greg Donabedian and junior Arjun Sanghvi helped Mason with their singles victories as well.
Mulquin improved to 8-6 on the season, and Donabedian evened up his season record to 7-7.
Donabedian and freshman Devin Leonard paired up as the second doubles team and won their match 8-4, while Mulquin and freshman Sam Coster defeated the Bison’s third doubles team of George Diggs and Brandon Burns, 8-3.
Donabedian and Leonard improved their record to 4-2, winning four of the last five matches.
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