Mustangs' Bats Come Alive Just in Time

For the second time in eight days, George Mason overcame early hitting woes and rallied to victory, beating Rappahanock 13-5. Stephen Lubnow’s two-run triple in the fourth inning gave Mason the lead for the first time at 5-4, and the Mustangs added more than enough insurance to give Ryan Short the win.

After Paul Weber’s lead off the bottom of the first with a double, Rappahanock’s John Mills and Cody Casey held the Mustangs hitless for 2 2-3 innings before Short helped his own cause in the fourth with a single. Garfield Burke came on in relief for the Panthers, and the floodgates were open, as Mason reeled off 12 more hits and 11 runs against Burke and Evan Hitt.

“Once you get the one or two guys that can actually throw strikes, you’re going to score some runs,” head coach Adam Amerine said. “Needless to say, I was not very happy at the beginning of the game with the way we started.”

Brandon Walker’s towering two-run homer gave Rappahanock the lead in the first inning before the Mustangs cut the deficit in half on Lubnow’s RBI groundout. Trevor Simpson made his first start since last week’s 6-3 come from behind win over Clark, and despite retiring six straight Panthers after Walker’s homer, found himself in trouble again in the third and fourth innings, allowing Rappahanock to built its largest lead at 4-1.

“He just didn’t have his stuff today,” Amerine said. “He was kind of guiding it in there and throwing it right down the middle.”

Short came in to finish the fourth, and then the offense got going. Jon Freeman walked and stole second, then advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on the ensuing overthrow to bring Mason within two. Bryce Cooper ran for Short after he got his first hit, and eventually scored on a balk by Casey to make it 4-3. After allowing two more hits, Burke came on in relief, and Lubnow sent the second pitch he saw off the fence to give the Mustangs the lead.

Max Kaplow and Tyler Duncan followed with run scoring hits of their own, and eventually, Short was back at the plate again and added another RBI single. Kaplow finished with three hits and drove in five runs, and Duncan also added three hits.

Short had little trouble getting through the fifth and sixth innings, allowing one hit in each frame, before allowing a run to score and loading the bases in the seventh. With no real threat imminent, the sophomore struck out Hitt to end the game.

“You certainly relax a little bit,” Amerine said of the difference between pitching with a big lead and in a tight game. “Ryan got a couple hits and created a little bit of energy for us.”

The Panthers entered the game 0-12 on the year, and the Mustangs hadn’t dropped a game to them since 2007, a stretch that included three games called early for the 10-run rule and two shutouts. Still, the win is Mason’s fourth in its last five games, and sixth in its last eight. The Mustangs will try to keep up the momentum for Friday when they seek revenge against Strasburg for an 11-inning 5-3 loss on April 30. Mason closes out the regular season the following Tuesday on the road at Rappahanock.