FAIRFAX, Va. – All nine hitters in the starting lineup reached base as the Saint Joseph's baseball team pounded out 13 hits en route to a 9-0 whitewash of George Mason on Friday afternoon at Spuhler Field. Joe Manion tossed eight shutout innings of four-hit ball and John Brue went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three driven in to lead the Hawks.
Saint Joseph's (8-11 overall, 2-1 Atlantic 10) took the lead in the top of the first as John Brue's two-out double brought home Stefan Kancylarz with the game's first run.
The Hawks doubled the lead in the second. Dominic Cuoci and Cal Jadacki led off the inning with consecutive singles, and after a fielder's choice by Brian Lau left runners at the corners, Taylor Boyd's sacrifice fly scored Cuoci to give SJU a 2-0 lead.
Brue struck again in the third with a one-out solo home run, his seventh of the season, to up the advantage to three.
SJU blew things open in the fifth. Kancylarz led off the frame with a single and advanced to second when Matt Maul was hit by a pitch. Brue followed with his third extra-base hit of the day, a double down the left field line, to score Kancylarz and extend the lead to 4-0. Lansing Veeder followed with a double off the right field wall to plate two more and make it a 6-0 game.
Cuoci followed with a single before Jadacki doubled home Veeder and advanced Cuoci to third. Boyd followed with another sacrifice fly to push the Hawk margin to 8-0.
George Mason (9-13 overall, 1-3 Atlantic 10) threatened in the bottom half of the inning, putting two on with nobody out, but Manion induced a double play and a groundout to strand a runner on third.
Boyd led off the eighth with a double, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a sac fly by Deon Stafford to close out the scoring.
Manion was magnificent, allowing just two runners past second base and retiring eight in a row at one point and 11 of the final 13 batters he faced to improve to 2-1. Matt Morella came on and pitched a perfect ninth to finish off the win.
The Hawks rocked Patriots starter John Williams, who was charged with eight runs after allowing 11 hits and two walks in four-plus innings. He fell to 4-2.
The teams will pick back up on Saturday for the second game of the weekend set. First pitch is set for 2:00 p.m.
