ST. LOUIS – The Saint Joseph's baseball team dropped a heartbreaker on Thursday afternoon, falling to George Mason by a 5-4 score.  Taylor Boyd was 3-for-3 on the day for the Hawks, who will now take on Richmond in an elimination game on Thursday night.

Saint Joseph's (34-15) opened the scoring in the second as John Brue hit a sacrifice fly to score Stefan Kancylarz with the game's first run.

George Mason (32-20) equalized in the bottom half of the inning on a solo home run by Anthony Montefusco.

The Hawks edged in front in the fourth as Boyd singled home Mike Muha, who led off with a walk before a single by Kevin Kratochwill.

Blaise Fernandez ripped a two-out double in the bottom of the fifth to bring home Luke Willis and tie the game for the Patriots.

Chris Hueth then served a single into right with two outs in the top of the sixth to score Kancylarz and put the Hawks on top, 3-2.

However, the Patriots took the lead in the bottom of the sixth, scoring on a single by Ray Toto and a sacrifice fly by Willis.

The Hawks had an opportunity in the eighth, putting runners on the corners with two outs, but GMU's Taylor Hunt retired the side to keep it a 4-3 game. A sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth then added to the Mason lead.

In the ninth, Saint Joseph's got one back on a single by Kratochwill and then loaded the bases with two outs, but Hunt induced a pop-up to end the game.

Boyd finished the day 3-for-3 with a sacrifice and was hit by a pitch to lead the Hawk offense.  Kratochwill and Muha chipped in a pair of hits as well, while Kancylarz scored twice.

Jordan Carter took the loss, falling to 10-4 on the year after allowing four runs on eight hits in five and a third innings.  John Williams improved to 5-2 for George Mason, allowing three runs on right hits in seven innings.  Hunt notched his first save of the season.

The Hawks will return to the Billiken Sports Center Thursday night for an elimination game against Richmond.  First pitch is set for 9:30 p.m. Eastern.