The GW baseball team split its last two games, losing on the road to the U.S. Naval Academy Wednesday and defeating George Mason University Tuesday.
The Colonials also picked up a win by forfeit when the College of William & Mary refused to play a game at Barcroft Field last Wednesday.
According to NCAA rules, the home team decides whether the field is usable. GW determined Barcroft Field to be in satisfactory condition, but the William & Mary manager disagreed. About an hour before the scheduled first pitch, he took his team off the field and left. At game time, the umpire, who also determined the field to be playable, ruled the game a 9-0 forfeit win for the Colonials.
GW (8-12) hosts Coppin State University at 3 p.m. Thursday at Barcroft Field before traveling to Virginia Tech this weekend for its first Atlantic 10 games of the season.
Navy 6, GW 5
An unearned run in the seventh inning broke a 5-5 tie and Navy held on to defeat the Colonials Tuesday at Bishop Stadium in Annapolis, Md.
“I thought we did some things well, but we just need to tighten up some things defensively,” said GW head coach Tom Walter, whose team committed six errors in its last two games. “I thought we gave away three runs today . we swung the bats well enough to win and I thought we pitched well enough to win.”
First baseman Matt Krimmel’s two-out, two-run single scored catcher Joe Beichert and shortstop Ryan Dacey to give GW a 3-1 lead in the third. The Colonials added another run in the fourth when Dacey singled in centerfielder Dan Rouhier (2-for-4, RBI, 2 runs).
Navy (6-10-1) took the lead back with four runs in the bottom of the fifth, but Rouhier smashed a solo home run in the top of the sixth to tie the game at five.
Mike O’Connor started for GW and allowed five runs in five innings. Clint Sells allowed an unearned run in two and a third innings of work, and Ari Zagaris pitched two-thirds of an inning, retiring both batters he faced.
“I think there are a lot of positives, but it’s just a matter of us putting it all together,” Walter said. “One game we pitch and the next game we hit and the next game we field.”
GW 10, George Mason 7
GW snapped a two-game losing streak with a victory over George Mason Tuesday at Raymond H. “Hap” Spuhler Field.
George Mason (9-7-1) held a 2-1 lead before GW rallied for six runs on five hits in the top of the fifth inning. Rouhier’s two-run single and Beichert’s second home run of the game were the big blows for GW. The Colonials increased their lead to 9-3 in the top of the seventh and survived George Mason’s four-run surge in the bottom of the frame.
Beichert led the Colonials, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBIs, while second baseman Mike Roberts went 3-for-4 and scored twice. Beichert leads the team with 11 homers on the season.
Brian Beggs (2-0) picked up the win in relief for GW despite giving up five earned runs in four innings. Chris Worth came on to pitch a scoreless eighth and Zagaris struck out two in the ninth for his first save of the season. Starter Tom Baginski worked three innings, giving up three earned runs while striking out four.
