After beating La Salle 11-2 Friday afternoon at Barcroft Field in Arlington, GW’s baseball team looked to be on their way to a series win against one of the Atlantic 10’s worst teams. But not even a second-consecutive complete game from ace Pat Lehman could help the Colonials salvage the series Sunday, as GW did itself in with four errors and lost 5-2.
The game started off well for GW (17-22, 6-8 A-10) when senior first baseman Tim Reeves drove a 1-1 pitch over the right field fence to lead off the second inning. The lead only lasted until the fourth, however, when the Explorers scored two runs and then added three more in the fifth after GW made two errors.
“We’re not making the plays on defense that we need to make,” head coach Steve Mrowka said. “It’s been one mistake after another and teams have seemed to follow them with a couple of hits.”
“We didn’t have a chance in either of these games,” he added, referring to GW’s losses on Saturday and Sunday.
Lehman (4-3) said he had problems locating his off-speed pitches throughout the game, allowing the Explorers’ hitters to wait on fastballs.
Despite the mid-game mistakes in the field, Lehman settled down for the rest of the game, allowing three earned runs and 11 hits. Afterward, Lehman said he felt the team played well over the weekend, but the poor timing of its mistakes was too much to overcome.
“But that’s baseball,” he said.
GW led off the eighth inning with two consecutive singles, but failed to score after Designated Hitter Curtis Eward struck out and right fielder Gavin Swanson hit into an inning-ending double play.
Things will not get easier for GW this week, as they play the next five games on the road, where they are 2-12. The stretch begins with a match-up Tuesday against George Mason, who beat the Colonials 17-5 back on April 5. Next weekend, GW will head to Duquesne, the team who shares the worst record in the conference with La Salle.
Despite the struggles, GW is still in contention for making the Atlantic 10 tournament and Lehman is confident in his team’s ability to put together a winning streak.
“We know we’re a good ball team,” Lehman said. “We’ll definitely be OK.”
