DIAMOND DUKES END SEASON WITH 5-3 LOSS AT MASON

Sunday, May 22

Fairfax, Va,

TBA

James Madison University

George Mason

5/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

FAIRFAX, Va., May 22 2005 – Junior right fielder Matt York's (Newtown Square, Pa./Penncrest) two-out, two-run double in the fourth inning gave George Mason a 3-2 lead and the Patriots went on to post a 5-3 victory over James Madison in the regular-season finale for both teams in Colonial Athletic Association baseball Sunday afternoon at Hap Spuhler Field.

The Patriots clinched the second seed for the CAA Championship Tournament with a 15-9 league record and will face fifth-seeded Delaware in the opening game at noon on Wednesday, May 25. Mason will tote an overall mark of 33-17 into the double-elimination event.

The Dukes finish the program's 36^th season with an overall mark of 20-35. JMU finished 8-16 in CAA play for the second straight year, which slots the Dukes eighth in this year's final regular-season standings. JMU was seventh in 2004.

The Dukes took a 2-1 advantage in the top of the fourth on an RBI single by freshman shortstop Rob Altieri (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic), before the Patriots took the lead for good on York's only hit of the game.

A leadoff walk by sophomore third baseman Chris Fournier (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield) and a bounding single up the middle by sophomore designated hitter Matt Barrett (Pennington, N.J./Hopewell Valley Central) set the stage for York. A sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position, and a popup out later, York lined a two-one pitch into the open space between the left-field line and JMU senior left fielder Sean Loso (Harrisonburg, Va./Turner Ashby).

Mason extended its lead to 4-2 with a Fournier RBI single in the fifth and to 5-2 with another run-producing single in the seventh by junior shortstop Tyler Youngs (Bogart, Ga./Skyline).

The Dukes's scoring opened in the first as junior second baseman Michael Cowgill (Lexington, Ky./Henry Clay) launched his team-best 14^th homer of the season. JMU's final run was also on a solo homer, this one was junior first baseman Matt Bristow's (Richmond, Va./Mills Godwin) eighth round-tripper of the year. Cowgill had four career homers and Bristow one coming into this season.

Cowgill finished 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI, and was the Dukes' triple-crown winner with a .367 batting average, 14 homers and 49 RBI. He also led the team in runs scored with 50.

A trio of Mason pitchers scattered seven JMU hits, and the win went to senior starter Josh Morrison (Nags Head, N.C./Manteo), who improved to 6-3. Freshman left-hander Jared Petrovich (Shamokin, Pa./Shamokin Area) pitched a perfect ninth to gain his second save.

The loss was hung on junior reliever Patrick Riley (Johnson City, N.Y./Johnson City),