TYSONS, Va. – Second-seeded George Mason got a strong performance from starter Brandon Cassedy and had timely hits to top No. 7 Dayton, 9-5 Tuesday at Capital One Park in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship.

The Patriots advance in the winner’s bracket and will face the winner of No. 3 Saint Louis and No. 6 Fordham in the second round. The Flyers play in Wednesday’s first consolation bracket at 7:00 pm against either Fordham or No. 5 Saint Joseph’s.

Cassedy went seven innings, allowing five hits and three runs in earning his eight win of the season. He struck out four and walked two.

The Patriots wasted no time in getting on the board, with a Jake Butler RBI single driving in Owen Hull and Owen Clyne. Butler then scored on an Andrew Raymo single, who himself scored on a Sam Lavin single. Hull led George Mason with a 3-for-5 day with three RBI and Butler tallied four RBI in 2-for-4 performance.

The Flyers battled back four innings later with the long ball. Dyrenson Wouters crushed a home run to left to score Martin Howell, and two batters later, Michael DiMartini hit a solo shot to right and UD was back within one run. Di Martini was 2-for-4 to lead UD, while Wouters and Ryan MacDougall each had a pair of RBI.

George Mason collected a trio of insurance runs on the seventh on a Hull triple to score Clyne and Jonny Wall, followed by a Butler RBI single, scoring James Quinn-Irons. The runs were needed, as MacDougall sent a home run to right center, plating Mason Dobie.

Hull and Butler each collected one more RBI in the bottom of the eight to seal the win for the Patriots.

Chris Peguero took the loss for UD, allowing six earned runs on eight hits with six strikeouts in six innings of work.