Fairfax, Va. – (March 24, 2017) – Despite an outstanding pitching effort from Fordham's
Jimmy Murphy, the Rams could not solve George Mason's Tyler Zombro, as he threw a six-hit, complete game shutout for the Patriots in a 2-0 win at Spuhler Field in Fairfax, Virginia.
The loss snaps Fordham's four-game win streak, putting the Rams' record at 7-10 on the season, 0-1 in the Atlantic 10, while George Mason improved to 8-13 overall, 1-0 in the league.
It was a classic pitcher's duel between Zombro and Murphy, as they traded zero-for-zero over the first five innings.
The Patriots though would scratch two runs across in the bottom of the sixth inning for the only runs of the ballgame. With two outs, Michael Smith singled to center and moved to second on a single by Frank Sturek. Tyler Nelin then hit a ground ball to third, which
Matthew Kozuch was unable to come up with, loading the bases for the Patriots. Trevor Kelly then sliced a single just out of the reach of second baseman
Reiss Knehr to score Smith and Sturek for the only runs of the game.
Brian Goulard
Zombro (1-3) made that lead hold up, tossing a complete game shutout, where he allowed just six hits with one strikeout and did not walk a batter.
Murphy (1-4) was the hard luck loser, as he pitched his first career complete game, allowing two unearned runs over eight innings with seven strikeouts. At the plate,
Brian Goulard and
Ryan Mahoney each had two hits in the game, while Kozuch and
Mark Donadio had one each.
The same two teams match-up for game two of the series on Saturday at 2:00 PM.
