The George Mason Patriots baseball team secured a 12-7 victory over Georgetown University on Saturday at Capital One Park in Tysons, Virginia. The win evens the series between the two teams.
Redshirt-sophomore pitcher Brant Ertel earned his first collegiate win, pitching three innings and allowing three runs on four hits. Freshman second baseman Julius Bagnerise contributed three runs batted in, while senior shortstop Owen Clyne recorded three hits and scored three times. Senior third baseman Evan Blanchard reached base three times, drove in two runs, and scored twice. Every player in the Patriots lineup either scored or drove in at least one run during the game.
The game remained scoreless through the first two innings with starting pitchers Logan Rumberg for George Mason and Trajan Lee for Georgetown on the mound. Georgetown took an early lead in the bottom of the third when graduate student shortstop Connor Peek singled to drive in two runs.
George Mason responded in the fifth inning as Logan Vaughan singled and later scored on a single by Bagnerise, narrowing Georgetown’s lead to 2-1. In the sixth inning, junior first baseman Jake Butler hit his first home run of the season to tie the game. Later that inning, Blanchard delivered a two-run single to give George Mason its first lead of the day, which was extended by another RBI single from Vaughan.
Georgetown tied it up again with a three-run homer by sophomore center fielder Jackson Thomas in their half of the sixth inning. However, errors by Georgetown helped George Mason regain a 7-5 advantage in the seventh inning.
The Patriots further increased their lead with four more runs in the eighth inning against reliever Griffin O’Connor. Drew Canody, Vaughan, and Clyne each contributed RBI singles during that frame.
Georgetown managed two additional runs late but could not close the gap. In their final turn at bat, George Mason loaded the bases before Bagnerise added another RBI with a sacrifice fly.
For George Mason, Rumberg started and allowed two runs over four innings with five strikeouts. Carter Kelsey pitched part of the eighth inning for George Mason and gave up two runs on two hits before sophomore Jake Drumm closed out pitching duties in the ninth.
On Georgetown’s side, Lee took his first loss of the season after giving up five runs over nearly six innings pitched.
The series will conclude Sunday afternoon at Spuhler Field in Fairfax with first pitch scheduled for noon.
