RICHMOND, Va. – Fueled by a Ben Shields no-hitter through the opening five frames, sixth-seeded George Mason took advantage of an early five-run edge against No. 2 overall Davidson in the Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship second round, grinding out an eventual 15-11 victory over the never-say-die Wildcats on Wednesday afternoon at The Diamond.
Win in hand, the Patriots lock in the final position in the winner's brack semifinal, and will face No. 4 Saint Louis on Friday morning at 11:00 am for a bid into the championship final. Meanwhile, Davidson falls into the consolation bracket and will take on third-seeded Dayton in an elimination contest on Thursday, first pitch slated for 11:00 am.
The Mason five-run first frame set the tone for the Patriots during the early going, as consistent success with small ball baffled the Wildcats. A South Trimble double started off the inning, and the sacrifice bunt by Derek Wood turned into a single when Davidson struggled to make the out at first. Jordan Smith proceeded to take advantage, driving an RBI single through the left side for the first score of the game.
During the ensuing at-bats, Brett Stallings reached on a bunt of his own, scoring one and advancing all the way to second after a 'Cats error on the throw. Alex Knapp reinforced the small ball approach with an RBI single to the pitcher via another short chopper before Evan Blanchard rounded out the scoring behind an RBI groundout.
The Patriots added one more in the third on an RBI grounder, a pair in the fourth via a sac fly and an RBI single and a decisive four in the fifth off the bats of Trimble and Connor Dykstra, cementing a decisive 12-0 edge.
All the meanwhile, Shields maintained a no-hitter against Davidson, allowing three base-runners during that stretch courtesy of two walks and a hit-by-pitch. The 'Cats broke the scoring drought in the sixth, as Michael Carico dropped a two-run bomb over the right-field wall to narrow the gap back down to 10.
Mason tacked on three more in the seventh to extend the lead back out to a comfortable 13, but Davidson refused to go quietly down the stretch, plating six runs in the eighth and another three in a dangerous ninth frame.
Overall, Trimble and Reece Woody paced the Patriots with four hits apiece and a combined five RBI while four additional players earned multi-hit and multi-RBI games as well. For Davidson, A-10 Player of the Year Ryan Wilson composed a two-hit day – extending his on-base streak to 53 games – along with both Nick Calero and Jake Wilhoit.
On the mound, Shields (W, 7-3) collected the win after 6.0 frames of work, striking out seven while surrendering just two earned runs on two hits with three walks. Four additional pitchers saw action for Mason as well, giviving up a combined eight earned runs on nine hits with just two strikeouts.
Davidson sophomore Ryan Feczko (L, 6-6) suffered the loss across 4.0 innings leading the battery, allowing seven earned runs on 13 hits with one walk.