ARLINGTON, VA – For the fourth straight game of the 2018 Atlantic 10 Baseball Tournament, the George Mason Patriots got a masterful performance from their starting pitcher. Brian Marconi delivered a 5-hit, seven inning outing in a 9-4 George Mason victory over George Washington.
Marconi started the 2018 season as the No. 3 starter for the Patriots, the last pitcher in the regular rotation. By the time it was conference play, the junior had been replaced by Jared DiCesare.
In a large tournament setting though, it does not matter. For a contending team, the No. 4 pitcher is just as valuable as the No. 3, No. 2, and No. 1. He potentially finishes his season with six strikeouts while yielding two walks and a hit batter.
“I tried just treating it just like a whole another game,” Marconi said. “The stakes we were facing today, we knew we had to go out and face it pitch-by-pitch, inning-by-inning and everything would work out for us, and we were lucky today that it did.”
The win at Tucker Field propels the Patriots to the championship on Saturday for the second time in program history. Beating George Washington for a second time in the tournament, George Mason combined to outscore the Colonials 20-7, giving them their two elimination losses.
“Before we got off the bus, I told them ‘I want you to understand one thing, this is a baseball game that we’re here to win, okay. I don’t care about tomorrow, it doesn’t make any difference. The only focus is for us is this game against GW tonight,” head coach Bill Brown said.
BULLPEN BLOWS MASON’S 9TH INNING LEAD, GO TO CONSOLATION BRACKET
Once again, George Mason (29-26) had their offense deliver making sure there was plenty of room for the left-hander to work with. They gathered 13 hits, drew five walks, and even got hit by a pitch.
Trevor Kelly did what clean-up batters are supposed to do and took the first pitch he saw in the ball game over the left field wall in the first inning. Scoring Logan Driscoll, who was just hit by a pitch, the Patriots were up 2-0 and did not look back.
“We needed something to really get us jump started and of course Trevor put a big swing on the ball in the first and that was huge for us,” Brown said.
Hitting a second one in the fifth inning to put Mason up 7-0, he now leads the tournament in home runs with three.
Battling for their lives, George Washington (32-26) was quick to change out their arms. Their starter, Pat Knight, never made it out of the second. By the end of the night eight Colonials saw time on the mound.
Adding the fireworks of what would be a blowout was shortstop Michael Smith. Hitting safely on his first three plate appearances, he was one of two players to get three hits in the game. His base running though is what he was ignited the #RevRivalry contest. Hitting a lead-off single in the second, the senior found his way to third base with only one out. On the first pitch Frank Sturek saw, he popped one up to shallow left field, nonetheless Smith came charging home and made an aggressive collision with the George Washington catcher, Brandon Chapman.
.@GWBaseball1 left fielder Trevor Kuncl and catcher Brandon Chapman connect to turn a double play and save a run. #Defense #A10BASE pic.twitter.com/wBICjFrPeC
— Atlantic10Conference (@atlantic10) May 26, 2018
“I was just trying to get home before the ball and obviously the ball beat me and we got a little collision,” Smith said.
With Smith out by nearly a step and a half, the Colonial bench was fired up. It was momentum that Marconi would quickly quiet with a 15 pitch 1-2-3 bottom half of the inning.
The second time Smith tagged third in the game, he completely ignored the stop sign from Assistant Coach Tag Montague. Almost hitting him, he barely beat out a throw to push Mason to an 8-0 advantage.
“I forgot to pick him up honestly, I was just running hard and by the time I saw it, it was too late,” Smith said.
Alejandro Aponte had two hits, two RBIs and scored a run. Driscoll had another hit, his fourth of the day if you include the Saint Louis loss.
Needing this performance by their starting pitcher was imperative for George Mason. Bullpen pitching has been the Achilles heel for them all year long and cost them in their earlier game against Saint Louis. Heading out with a seven-run lead was plenty for Marconi’s (5-1) relievers Saul Aguilera and Jonathan Ostroff, despite a bases loaded scare in the bottom of the ninth. Of the four runs scored by the Colonials, only two are charged to Marconi.
“Brian was fantastic for us tonight. To go the number of pitches he went and to do what he did for us is spectacular. It gives us an opportunity, a chance to win the championship, and that’s exactly what needed to happen,” Brown said. “In a perfect world, he would have been pitching in the championship game.”
PITCHING WILL BE LIMITED FOR MASON ON CHAMPIONSHIP SATURDAY
Advancing to the championship, George Mason will face off against Saint Louis (37-18) once again. The game prior, the Billikins toppled the Patriots 5-4 in 11 innings. To win the Atlantic 10 title George Mason will have to beat Saint Louis twice, the Billikins only have to win one of two contests on Saturday.
“Don’t let the Pats win the first game, because who knows what could happen in the second one,” Smith said.
