TOWSON, Md. - Although the Tigers (19-36, 11-13) celebrated Senior Day by blasting six home runs, it wasn't enough to overcome a 20-hit attack by George Mason University (28-22, 11-13) as the Patriots ended their ten-game losing streak with a 17-9 victory over Towson in the season finale for both teams at John B. Schuerholz Park on Sunday afternoon.
Playing in the final game of his college career, senior shortstop Ryan Soares went five-for-six with two doubles and two home runs to lead the Patriots to the win. While salvaging the final game of the three-game weekend series, the Patriots blasted a seasonal high six home runs and banged out 20 base hits.
The Tigers, who won the first two games of the series by scores of 9-4 and 19-9, also smashed six homers in the loss.
As a result of the season finale, Towson and George Mason finished the season in a three-way tie for fifth place in the CAA standings. While the Tigers and the Patriots posted 11-13 records in CAA play, Old Dominion also finished with an 11-13 mark as part of the fifth place tie. However, only the top four teams in the CAA qualify for the CAA Tournament.
Soares, who finished the season with a school record .435 batting average, also scored five runs and had five runs batted in. With his two doubles, he finished the season with 29 doubles as he set a CAA record for doubles in a season. Soares, who set a school record with 61 career doubles, also led the CAA in batting.
Led by Soares, the Patriots spoiled the Tigers' Senior Day festivities. The Tigers honored seniors Kevin Collins, Nate Curd, Austin Hurd, John Schmeer, Wes Shifflett, Eric Weller and Steve Yarsinsky in pre-game ceremonies.
After falling behind in the first inning of the first two games of the series, the Patriots turned the tables on the Tigers in the series finale. They scored four runs off sophomore righthander Tyler Austin before he recorded an out.
Sophomore second baseman Brig Tison led off the game with a single to right field. Soares immediately gave the Patriots a 2-0 lead when he launched a monstrous two-run homer over the left centerfield fence. It was his 12th roundtripper of the season.
Senior third baseman Mark Hill kept the inning alive when he reached base on an infield single. Then, junior leftfielder Shane Davis blasted Austin's first pitch over the right field fence for his ninth home run of the season. His two-run homer gave the Patriots a 4-0 lead with no outs in the first.
After Austin struck out sophomore rightfielder Dan Schaefferman, junior first baseman Dan Palumbo reached base on a throwing error by Tiger third baseman Austin Harclerode. After sophomore centerfielder Jeremy Haas was retired on a fly ball to centerfield, senior catcher Josh Steinberg drew a walk. However, Austin pitched out of the long first inning when he struck out senior designated hitter Aaron Tenney.
In the bottom of the first inning, the Tigers came right back and showed off some of their power. With one out, junior shortstop Nick Natoli was hit by a pitch. Then, Collins cut the Tigers' deficit in half when he belted a two-run homer over the leftfield fence. His eighth home run of the season made it a 4-2 game. It was his third homer of the weekend series and the 27th home run of his college career.
Moments later, junior second baseman Chris Wychock smashed his 13th homer of the season over the left centerfield fence, pulling the Tigers to within 4-3. Wychock's homer was the 32nd of his career, moving him into a tie for fourth place on Towson's all-time list.
Senior righthander Kris Mengle of Mason retired the next two hitters to escape the inning with no further damage as the Patriots took a 4-3 lead into the second inning.
With one out in the second inning, Soares singled to centerfield for his second hit of the game. Moments later, Hill clouted a home run deep over the leftfield fence, upping the Patriots' lead to 6-2. Austin came back to retire the next two hitters as the Patriots entered the bottom of the second with a 6-2 lead.
In their half of the second, the Tigers staged another rally. With one out, freshman catcher Andrew Parker singled to centerfield. With Weller at the plate, Parker stole second base and went to third base on a throwing error by Steinburg. Weller delivered the Tigers' fourth run of the game when he singled to leftfield, scoring Parker. Sophomore centerfielder Ben Winter drew a walk to put two runners on base with one out. When Natoli was retired on a fly ball to deep right, Weller advanced to third base. After Winter stole second base to put two runners in scoring position, Mengle got Collins to ground out to second base, ending the inning.
The Tigers tied the game in the bottom of the third inning with two swings of the bat. With two outs, freshman leftfielder Kurt Wertz lined a solo home run over the left field fence to cut the deficit to 6-5. On the next pitch, Harclerode blasted his fourth homer of the season over the left centerfield fence, tying the game at 6-6. Mengle escaped the inning by retiring Parker on a line drive to centerfield.
Facing Shifflett, a senior lefthander in the fourth inning, the Patriots rallied to take a lead. Tenney led off the inning by drawing a walk on four pitches. After Tison was retired on a ground ball to second base, Tenney moved into scoring position. That set the stage for Soares to break a CAA record.
Soares lined a shot to left field where Wertz made a leaping dive for a catch. However, Wertz couldn't hold on to the ball as he hit the ground. Soares slid into second base with his 28th double. His 28th double of the season enabled him to break the CAA single season record for doubles.
Tenney only reached third base on the play. When Hill blooped a single to right field, Tenney scored to give George Mason a 7-6 lead. With runners on first and third, Shifflett uncorked a wild pitch, enabling Soares to score, increasing the advantage to 8-6. After hitting Davis with a pitch, Shifflett retired the next two hitters to pitch out of the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, sophomore righthander Ryan Pfaeffle relieved Mengle and he shut down the Tigers. After allowing a walk to Weller, he retired the next three hitters in a row. In the fifth inning, he also retired the Tigers in order as the Patriots maintained their 8-6 lead.
In the sixth inning, Soares led off with his second double of the game, another shot down the left field line. After advancing to third base on a balk, he scored on another wild pitch by Shifflett, giving the Patriots a 9-6 advantage.
Pfaeffle retired the Tigers in order in the bottom of the sixth inning. After issuing a walk to Weller, he retired nine batters in a row.
In the seventh inning, the Patriots extended their lead by hitting a pair of home runs off Schmeer, a senior righthander. Freshman rightfielder Josh Turner greeted Schmeer with a single to centerfield. Steinberg gave the Patriots an 11-6 advantage when he blasted his sixth homer of the season over the left field fence. After Schmeer retired Tenney on a fly ball to center field, Tison launched his third home run of the season, giving Mason a 12-6 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Winter led off with a solo homer down the rightfield line, cutting the Tigers' deficit to 12-7. When Pfaeffle's next pitch nearly hit Natoli in the head, he was immediately ejected by the home plate umpire. Despite a protest from Mason Coach Bill Brown, senior lefthander Darren McLean came out of the bullpen to pitch.
McLean retired the next three Tigers in order.
The Patriots rallied for five runs in the eighth inning to put the game out of reach. Facing Hurd, another senior righthander, the Patriots added five runs on three hits. Hurd, who was the starting pitcher in the series opener on Friday, found himself in immediate trouble. After he walked Schaefferman, he hit Palumbo with a pitch to put runners on first and second base. Turner followed with a bunt single to load the bases with no outs. It appeared that Hurd might escape the jam when he struck out Steinberg and Tenney on called third strikes.
However, Tison drove in two runs with a single up the middle, giving the Patriots a 14-7 lead. Then, Soares capped off his big game by belting a three-run homer over the left centerfield fence to give Mason a 17-7 edge.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, junior designated hitter Steve Rice started the inning with a long triple to deep centerfield. When pinch hitter Brady Baxter grounded out to second base, Rice scored to make it a 17-8 lead. Harclerode followed with his second homer of the game, a solo shot to left centerfield that made the score 17-9.
At that point, Yarsinsky, the Tigers' starting first baseman for most of the season, came up to the plate as a pinch hitter. He had not played in two weeks since he sprained his ankle at North Carolina State on May 8. On a 2-0 pitch, he singled to centerfield and hobbled to first base where he was immediately replace by pinch runner Cody Reeves. It was the 234th career hit for Yarsinsky, who finished his career ranked sixth on Towson's career list of base hit leaders.
After Weller was retired on a fly ball to left for the second out, Winter doubled down the left field line, putting runners on second and third base. But McLean struck out pinch hitter Mike Schmidt to end the threat.
Collins, who batted .615 in the weekend series against the Patriots, singled to lead off the ninth inning. It was the 227th base hit of his career, ninth on the Tigers' career list. After Wychock struck out, Rice drew a walk. With two outs, Harclerode was hit by a pitch to load the bases. However, McLean nailed down the first save of his career by striking out reserve catcher Sean Adkins to end the game.
McLean allowed two runs on five hits in three innings of work to pick up the save. Mengle earned his fourth win of the season for the Patriots, who also snapped an eight-game CAA losing streak.
While Soares led the Patriots' 20-hit attack, Hill had four hits and three RBI's in the final game of his career. Tison had three hits, scored three runs and drove in three more while Davis had two hits and drove in a pair of runs. Turner and Palumbo also had two hits each.
Playing in his final game, Collins was two-for-five with two RBI's. He finished his career with a .319 batting average. Winter also had two hits and scored a run while Harclerode had two hits, a pair of solo home runs.
Six of the Tigers' seven seniors appeared in the final game of their career.
TIGER TIDBITS: The Tigers finished the season with a .304 team batting average, a mark that ranked seventh in the CAA ... With their 36th loss of the season, the Tigers broke the school record for losses in a season ... Towson had previously lost 35 games in the 2004 season.
By finishing in a tie for fifth place in the CAA standings, the Tigers earned their second-best CAA finish since joining the CAA in 2002 ... In 2005, the Tigers were fourth in the CAA, marking the only time they finished higher than fifth ... Towson also finished sixth in 2008 and 2003.
Collins led the Tigers in hitting as a senior with a .346 batting average ... He scored 49 runs with 15 doubles, four triples, eight homers and 47 RBI's ... He also stole 26 bases in 31 attempts, a mark that placed him second in the CAA ... He finished his career with 55 stolen bases, second on Towson's career list ... He also scored 168 career runs, the second highest total in the history of Towson baseball.
Yarsinsky was the Tigers' second-leading hitter with a .344 batting average ... Despite missing eight games, he was second on the team with ten homers and he drove in 40 runs ... Winter, the Tigers' leadoff hitter, batted .343 and led the team with 55 runs scored ... He also led the Tigers with 79 base hits while banging out 18 doubles, six triples, three homers and 25 RBI's.
Wychock, who batted .343, led the Tigers with 20 doubles, 13 homers and 52 RBI's ... Natoli batted .329 with 16 doubles and 38 RBI's.
Tiger pitchers combined to set single season records for highest E.R.A. (8.14), most walks allowed (285), most hits allowed (693), most runs allowed (514) and most earned runs allowed (428) ... They also set a single season record by striking out 369 batters.
The Tigers played 37 of 55 games away from home and posted a 10-27 record on the road ... Towson posted a 9-9 record at Schuerholz Park.
