University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
16-27, 9-13
George Mason
19-33, 7-15
Mrowka Gives Baseball Walk-Off Win Over George Mason
May 19, 2016 | Baseball
AMHERST, Mass. - A walk-off RBI single from freshman Cooper Mrowka gave the University of Massachusetts baseball team a 2-1 victory in its series opener vs. George Mason on Thursday afternoon at Earl Lorden Field. The win moves the Minutemen to 16-27 overall, 9-13 in Atlantic 10 play, while the Patriots fall to 19-33 on the year and 7-15 in conference action.
George Mason opened up the contest with a run on two hits in the top of the first. Michael Smith drew a one-out walk and moved to third following back-to-back singles from Tyler Nelin and Kent Blackstone. Then a sacrifice fly to center off the bat of Driscoll brought Smith home.
UMass answered, though, by tying the score in the bottom half of the inning. Senior Vinny Scifo dropped a leadoff single into center and junior Dylan Morris followed with a single to right. Then with two away, senior John Jennings drove in Scifo with a single to left center.
The Patriots registered just two more hits in the contest, both in the fifth inning, but Minutemen starter Ryan Moloney worked out of the jam, inducing a ground ball of the bat of Nellin to strand runners on the corners.
The Minutemen advanced runners into scoring position with less than two outs in the fourth, sixth and eighth innings before finally breaking the 1-1 deadlock in the ninth. Junior Mike Geannelis doubled to left center and went to third on a sacrifice bunt before being lifted for a pinch runner, sophomore Brett Evangelista. Mrowka then deposited a 2-1 pitch into shallow center to bring in the winning run.
Redshirt senior Tim Cassidy retired all six batters he faced over two innings to collect the victory (2-4) in relief after Moloney limited George Mason to one run on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts over seven innings. Mark Maksimow took the loss (2-1) for the Patriots as he surrendered one run on three hits in 1.1 innings on the mound.
The teams will be back in action tomorrow afternoon, May 20, with game two of the series set for a 1 p.m. start on Earl Lorden Field.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Cassidy, Tim (2-4)
L: Maksimow, Mark (2-1)
Batting:
RBI: Driscoll, Garett 1
SH: Sturek, Frank 1
SF: Driscoll, Garett 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Smith, Michael 1
SB: Blackstone, Kent 2
Batting:
2B: Geannelis, Mike 1 ; Lever, Ryan 1
RBI: Jennings, John 1 ; Mrowka, Cooper 1
SH: Morris, Dylan 1 ; Jennings, John 1 ; Carey, Hunter 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Scifo, Vinny 1 ; Evangelista, Brett 1
HBP: Morris, Dylan 1
