This post was written by Hatchet senior staff writer Josh Solomon.
On the bus ride back from Davidson last weekend, GW finished watching the Pirates of Caribbean series.
The Colonials had just lost the series to the Wildcats, losing the final game by one run. The team was also playing without its full lineup.
A team without its top crew just isn’t as effective.
They were missing the strength of their three and four-hole hitters. Left fielder, sophomore Mark Osis had been out since before Atlantic 10 play began with a pulled hamstring and shortstop, junior Kevin Mahala was battling a hip flexor injury, restricting him to designated hitter.
This weekend against George Mason, GW had all hands on deck: Osis was back in left field and Mahala was back out at shortstop, for Saturday and Sunday’s games. The lineup was potent, scoring 24 runs in the three games. Every time the Colonials scored a run the PA system played the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack and the players on the bench could be heard leading the chant.
“It’s not even dissimilar to what we did with the Pirates one year when we had Zoltan. Remember that?” Ritchie said. “Saw the movie [Pirates of the Caribbean], hadn’t seen it a long time and just loved it and got fired up. There was that energy. That movie gives a lot of energy. There’s a lot of battles. We were all just talking about it. Let’s roll, let’s battle like this.”
The Colonials would right their season’s ship, improving to 6-3 after a series sweep over George Mason, closed out by a 9–3 Sunday win at The Tuck.
And while GW’s Sunday win showed off its offensive potential, senior Luke Olson stole the spotlight.
Olson relieved sophomore Brady Renner, who went one inning, giving up three runs, two earned, walking two and striking out two all on 46 pitches.
The submariner came in thinking he would just try to throw up some zeroes for a few innings. He left the game when it was over – pitching eight shutout innings and allowing three hits on over 99 pitches.
“I’m definitely tired, but it was a fun eight innings,” Olson said. “I was glad I was pitching well. Pretty much all of my pitches were working.”
Everytime Olson got to a two strike count or struck out a batter the bench would holler at him “Oi Oi Oi,” the Australian sports chant. Olson’s PA song is the popular Australian song, “Down Under” by Men at Work, a play off of his down under delivery.
“That was weird. The first time I heard it, I was like ‘Woah, what is that?’,” Olson said. “It was cool though. I was trying to hide my smile out there.”
As Olson dazzled on the mound with his fastball, slider combo, his teammates put up runs behind him to break open the game.
In the fifth inning, GW scored four runs on four hits.
Junior Bobby Campbell continued his torrid pace, working a walk to start the inning, coming back down in the count two strikes. In the series he went 4-10, with five runs scored and three RBI – a week after batting .571 against Davidson. His batting average is now up to .357.
A hit and run by sophomore Matt Cosentino, in the designated hitter spot to help lengthen the lineup, landed runners on first and second with one out. Then a steal by Campbell, followed by an overthrown ball allowed him to score and moved Cosentino to second.
Sophomore Brandon Chapman would single in Cosentino with a bloop hit to center and later junior Joey Bartosic would drive in two runs with his rip to the left center field 363 feet marker for a double, and his third hit of the day.
In the bottom of the first inning, following a top half where it looked like GW’s chance for a sweep would be limited, the Colonials came back out and plated three of their own. Mahala doubled in the third run of the inning for his one hit of the day.
“We had a lot of energy today,” Mahala said. “Just real hot. I don’t know what it was today, but we just woke up with a lot of energy and kept it rolling throughout the game. You go down three in the first inning and to keep the energy like that is a big step forward for the team.”
With Mahala and Osis, regardless of their personal production, the team is deeper both in the field and at the plate. And mentally, when you have two of your top hitters fully back in the lineup, you know you have a good chance.
“It was great, it was one of the few times that they had that much energy throughout the entire three games, one through nine, all nine, every game, boom, boom, boom, no matter what,” Ritchie said. “We’re having a lot of fun.”
Series Recap
Game 1: GW 1, GMU 0
Although it didn’t play out as pretty as it sounds – ace of the staff to the setup man to the closer for a 1-0 shutout victory – GW did win the series opener against the Patriots off of a formula that they have been looking to execute.
Senior Bobby LeWarne picked up his team-high fifth win of the season, going six innings, scattering five hits and striking out six with 104 pitches. He had to wiggle out of some kind of trouble in every inning. Freshman Justin Friedman escaped his own trouble in the seventh, and junior Eddie Muhl had to sweat it out too before earning his ninth save of the season.
Campbell collected GW’s first hit of the game in the fifth with a double. Junior Cody Bryant would drive him in with a double of his own.
Game 2: GW 14, GMU 4
In the team’s first game with a full, healthy lineup since before A-10 play started, the offense clicked for 14 runs, eight earned. The Colonials put up crooked numbers in the third and fourth, scoring eight and five runs, respectively.
Chapman hit a grand slam, and went 2-3 on the day with two runs scored and five RBI. Osis went 3-5, with two runs scored and one RBI.
GW used just two pitches, starter, junior Shane Sweeney, who went 4.2 innings and allowed four runs, three earned on 90 pitches. Senior Jacob Williams would get the win, his third of the season, closing the final 4.1 innings, allowing one hit and striking out four on 60 pitches.
Up Next: GW will host Towson, Tuesday at 3 p.m. Sophomore Robbie Metz is a potential candidate to start, among a whole, fairly rested bullpen – after the Colonials used seven pitchers between three games.
The team will resume conference play on the road at Dayton (4-8) this weekend. The starting rotation is expected to stay the same: LeWarne, Sweeney, Renner.
