MERION STATION, Pa. – Dominic Cuoci drove in five runs and scored three while James McConnon went 4-for-5 with three runs scored of his own as the Saint Joseph's baseball team rolled to a 14-3 win at Smithson Field on Sunday and secured a three-game sweep of George Mason.
For the second day in a row, every Hawk in the starting lineup notched at least one hit. Cuoci led the way for the Hawks throughout the series, finishing the weekend 8-of-14 for a .571 average with seven runs scored and six driven in. As a team, the Hawks scored 43 runs and pounded out 44 hits in the series; it is the first time the Hawks have scored 10+ runs in three consecutive games since March 17-19, 2006.
Saint Joseph's (10-10 overall, 3-0 Atlantic 10) scored in the first inning for the third consecutive day as McConnon hit a two-out single, advanced when Nate Thomas was hit by a pitch, and scored on a single by Cuoci.
The Patriots equalized on a wild pitch in the third, but the Hawks responded with a four-spot in the bottom of the inning to take the lead for good. McConnon and Cuoci were the catalysts once again, as the former singled and the latter hit his second home run of the season to put the Hawks back on top, 3-1. Andrew Cossetti followed with a walk before Kadar Namey and Jake Artz hit consecutive RBI doubles to extend the lead to 5-1.
George Mason (10-12 overall, 0-3 Atlantic 10) got one back in the fourth as Logan Driscoll drew a bases-loaded walk, but a five-run fifth blew the game open for SJU. After coming in from the bullpen, the Patriots' Jared Lyons walked the bases loaded to bring up Matt Cuppari, whose two-run single made it a 7-2 game.
Brendan Hueth then followed with an RBI single of his own before consecutive walks to Liam Bendo and McConnon forced home another run. Thomas capped off the big frame with a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 10-2.
Cam Reckling led off the seventh with a double for George Mason and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Bailey Klein.
The SJU offense went back to work in the home half of the seventh, adding four more runs to close out the scoring for the day. Bendo, McConnon, and Thomas singled in succession to load the bases with one out for Cuoci, who doubled into the right field corner to plate a pair. Cossetti was hit by a pitch to re-load the bases for Namey, who drew a walk to force in a run. Artz finished the scoring with a fielder's choice ground ball that allowed Cuoci to score the final run of the day.
Hayden Seig earned the win for SJU, striking out four over 2.1 shutout innings in relief of Luke Zimmerman, who allowed two runs on four hits in 3.2 innings of work. Brian Marconi got the start for George Mason and was charged with five runs on seven hits across four innings in defeat.
The red-hot Hawks, having won eight of nine and off to their first 3-0 start in Atlantic 10 play since 2009, will host Lafayette on Tuesday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the Liberty Bell Classic. First pitch at Smithson Field is set for 3:00 p.m.
