Baseball’s postseason run came to a halt Thursday night, when the Colonials fell to Rhode Island in the the team’s third game of the Atlantic 10 championship.
The Rams (31-21), who won their regular season series against the Colonials (31-27), took advantage at the plate, connecting for 12 hits and eliminating the Colonials from the tournament in an 8–4 victory.
GW went through four pitchers on the night and tallied on only seven hits in the outing.
The loss not only signifies the end of the season for the Colonials, but the end of the road for 14 seniors who led GW to its third consecutive post season appearance during their four-year tenure.
Heading into the playoffs, the Colonials won seven of their last nine games, sweeping both George Mason and La Salle in conference series before dropping two of three games in their final home series against Saint Joseph’s.
GW’s post season started with a bang. As the No. 4 seed, the Colonials’ 6–4 win over Saint Louis was the program’s first victory to open the A-10 tournament since 2003.
The celebration was short lived, however, as GW fell to No. 1 seed VCU 9–4 Thursday afternoon, making Thursday nightcap a must-win if the Colonials wanted to keep their post season run alive.
They trailed the Rams from the get-go, after junior pitcher Robbie Metz gave up a solo homerun in the top of the first, giving Rhode Island an early lead.
Metz would ultimately let up five runs on six hits over the span of 3 1-3 innings, before being replaced by sophomore pitcher Will Kobos in the top of the fourth.
GW’s first hit came from Metz in the bottom of the second, when he reached on a single and advanced to second off of a throwing error. Metz was stranded on base at the end of the inning.
The Rams picked up one more run in the third inning and three more in the fourth before the Colonials found the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth inning. A groundball from junior outfielder Mark Osis sent Metz – who had tripled – home to chip away at the now 5–1 Rams advantage.
Senior pitcher Brandon Ritchie – who replaced Kobos on the mound – struggled in the top of the sixth, allowing two hits and one run to push Rhode Island’s lead to five runs.
Senior third baseman Cody Bryant found himself on base for the first time in the game in the bottom of the sixth inning after being hit by a pitch. A ground out by senior first baseman Bobby Campbell sent Bryant to second and a wild pitch advanced Bryant to third. A single by freshman infielder Nate Fassnacht sent Bryant over the plate for GW’s second run of the night.
After letting up one walk and allowing an RBI in the top of the seventh, Ritchie was replaced by junior pitcher Kevin Hodgson, who pitched the remainder of the game.
The Colonials continued their slow and steady progress on the scoreboard in the bottom of the seventh when Osis hit a double to open the inning. A groundout by junior catcher Brandon Chapman and a single by senior outfielder Joey Bartosic brought Osis in for the Colonials’ third run.
With the game and their season on the line, GW didn’t go down without a fight in the bottom of the ninth inning.
After Osis was hit by a pitch and senior designated hitter Colin Gibbons-Fly was walked, the next two Colonial batters were unable to generate momentum at the plate.
Senior outfielder Andrew Selby, with two outs and two batters on base, hit a single down the right field line to send Osis to score GW’s fourth and final run of the game.
The Rams will advance to the conference semifinal after the victory and will take on Saint Louis Friday.
