George Mason, Richmond open A-10 tournament

TYSONS, Va. (Interstat) – The George Mason Patriots and Richmond Spiders meet Friday afternoon in the opening game of the Atlantic 10 Conference baseball championship at Tysons, Virginia.

The Patriots (28-25) enter as the lower seed after finishing the regular season with a 9-1 win at Davidson on Thursday. The Spiders (33-22) swept a three-game series at Saint Louis last weekend, including a wild 26-24 victory on May 16.

Richmond won two of three against George Mason in the regular-season series April 10-12, taking the first two games 11-3 and 4-2 before the Patriots answered with a 7-5 win in the finale.

George Mason will likely turn to right-hander Logan Rumberg, who dominated Davidson in Thursday’s win, pitching seven innings while allowing one earned run on no hits with 11 strikeouts. Over his last four starts, Rumberg has a 2.70 ERA with 27 strikeouts in 20 innings, though he gave up six earned runs in five innings in a May 8 loss at Dayton.

Richmond’s offense features center fielder Chris Schaller, who went 4-for-7 with two home runs and four RBIs in the 26-24 win at Saint Louis. Schaller has hit safely in seven of his last eight games, posting a .325 batting average with three homers and eight RBIs over that span.

The Spiders have won four of their last five games overall, while the Patriots have won three of their last four.

The winner advances in the double-elimination tournament. First pitch is scheduled for the afternoon.