George Mason Rallies To Defeat Manhattan

Box Score (PDF)

Fairfax, VA - George Mason broke open a close game with five runs in the seventh en route to a 6-3 win over Manhattan in the opener between the teams at Spuhler Field.

The Patriots improve to 7-4 while the Jaspers fall to 3-7.

Manhattan opened the scoring in the second inning as junior Dominic Palma (Hilton, NY / Hilton) led off with a double, before coming around to score on a two-out error.

The Jaspers added to the lead with another run in the in the fifth as freshman Jonathan Barditch (Miami,FL / Belen Jesuit Prep) and sophomore Santiago Riera (Rioclaro, Venezuela / Brunswick (CT)) delivered back-to-back, two-strike singles with one out. Barditch then came around to score on a Shawn Blake (GS, Stratford, CT / Elon) RBI fielder's choice grounder.
 
In the sixth, Manhattan had a chance to further dent the scoreboard as Palma and junior Alex Cerda (Miami, FL / Florida Christian School) each rapped out one-out singles. However, freshman Keury Abreu (Bronx, NY / St. Raymond) lined into an inning-ending double play.

After being held hitless through five, George Mason finally notched a hit in the bottom part of the sixth and got one run back before leaving the bases loaded.

One inning later with the bases again loaded, Greg Popatak crushed a three-run, tiebreaking double to give the Patriots the lead for good.

Manhattan got one of those runs back in the top of the eighth as freshman Nick Cimillo (Airmont, NY / Suffern) and sophomore Matt Padre (Flemington, NY / Hunterdon Central) led off with back-to-back walks. The pair then moved to second-and-third on Cerda's second single of the game, before Cimillo came around to score on an Abreu RBI ground out to provide the final 6-3 score.

Despite the loss, the Jaspers outhit the Patriots by an 8-7 count, with Cerda, Palma and Riera all notching multiple-hits.

Senior RHP Ryan Takacs (Jackson, NJ / Jackson Memorial) was the tough-luck losing pitcher, striking out a career-high six over a personal-best 6.1 innings of work.

RHP Stuart Barrett (2-1) earned the victory with three strikeouts while yielding one run over 2.0 innings of work with RHP James Beasley working a perfect ninth in collecting his third save.

The teams will conclude their three-game series tomorrow with a 12:00 pm doubleheader.