How It Happened
Rhode Island and George Mason split a doubleheader Friday afternoon as the teams opened Atlantic 10 play. The visiting Patriots (13-13, 1-1 A-10) used a five-run rally to come from behind in the first game. Rhody (9-13, 1-1 A-10) jumped out early in the second contest and then put the game away late with five runs over the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

Game 1 - George Mason 7, Rhode Island 6
Rhode Island led 2-1 through the first five innings, but George Mason exploded for five in the top of the sixth. A sacrifice fly by Jordan Smith, an RBI double by Connor Dykstra and an RBI single by Ryan Archibald put the Patriots up 4-2 before Reece Woody capped the rally with a two-run homer.

Rhody made things interesting with a three-run eighth. Michael Anderson had a two-run double and Billy Butler added a run-scoring single. In the bottom of the ninth, the Rams got an RBI groundout that scored Rob Butler to make it a one-run contest. However, the comeback attempt ended there, as the final two batters were retired on fly outs.

Game 2 - Rhode Island 8, George Mason 4
Rhode Island led throughout, scoring three times in the bottom of the first inning and never giving up the lead. Billy Butler had an RBI single, Eric Genther scored on a wild pitch and Nicholos Toro drove in Butler with a ground-rule double to give starter Trystan Levesque an early cushion.

George Mason cut into the lead with two in the top of the fifth, but the Rams came back with a solo home run from Genther in the sixth, an RBI double by Alex Ramirez in the seventh and three more runs in the eighth to put the game away and secure the team's first conference win of the year.

Inside the Box Score

• Junior Trystan Levesque (4-2) was dominant in the second game, striking out 11 batters over 7.0 innings. He gave up just two runs on three hits.
• He has 19 strikeouts over his last 13.0 innings of work.
• Redshirt senior Billy Butler had four hits and two runs batted in on the day.
• Redshirt junior Alex Ramirez doubled in each game. In the second contest, he also singled and scored a pair of runs.
• Freshman Michael Anderson had two doubles and drove in three runs in the first game.
• Sophomore Eric Genther hit a solo home run in the second game and singled in both games. He scored three runs over the two games.

What's Next
Rhode Island and George Mason will take a day off on Saturday while the region takes on water with heavy rain. The series will conclude Sunday at noon.