George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
MASSACHUSETTS
GW Baseball Edged by UMass, 6-4, in Series Opener
4/18/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 18, 2014
ARLINGTON, Va. - Senior Owen Beightol tallied his team-best 14th multiple-hit game of the season with a three-hit effort but a late UMass rally resulted in the George Washington baseball team dropping a 6-4 decision in the opening game of a three-game series on Friday afternoon at Barcroft Park.
GW (11-23, 4-9 A-10) carried a 4-3 lead into the ninth inning, but Massachusetts (8-20, 6-7 A-10) plated three runs in the inning to escape with a 6-4 victory.
The Minutemen grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a RBI single by Mike Geannelis before GW responded in the bottom half when Beightol led off with a double, advanced to second on a sacrifice and scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 1-1.
GW starter Aaron Weisberg allowed just one hit over the next two innings before the Colonials scored twice in the bottom of the fourth to take a 3-1 lead.
Beightol led off the inning with an infield single and advanced to second when sophomore Matthieu Robert reached on catcher's interference. Freshman Cody Bryant was hit by a pitch to load the bases and then freshmen Kevin Mahala sent a 2-2 pitch up the middle for a two-run single to give GW a 3-1 advantage.
Massachusetts threatened to score in the seventh when it put runners on second and third with one out, but Weisberg worked his way out of the jam with an inning-ending double play.
The second out was recorded via appeal when a runner on third base left early on a sacrifice fly attempt.
In the bottom of the seventh, junior Ryan Xepoleas delivered a sacrifice fly to extend GW's lead to 4-1.
Massachusetts started its deciding rally by scoring two runs in the eighth inning to pull within one run of the lead at 4-3. The Minutemen carried the momentum into the ninth when they plated three more runs to take a 6-4 advantage into the bottom of the ninth.
GW got its first two batters on base via a walk by Beightol and single by Xepoleas but Massachusetts thwarted the threat to clinch the game.
Beightol finished 3-for-4 with a double to raise his team-leading batting average to .347. Xepoleas finished 2-for-3 with one RBI.
Sophomore Jacob Williams will take the mound in game two at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Saturday's game marks the inaugural Bark at Barcroft promotion where fans are invited to bring their pet dogs to the park for an afternoon of baseball and dog-related services. For more information on Bark at Barcroft, click here.
