Broadside Sports

By Cody Norman, Staff Writer and Brian T. Chan, Sports Editor

Foster opts to transfer
George Mason University men’s basketball redshirt freshman forward Kevin Foster has decided to transfer to a school near his hometown in Lakeland, Fla.
Foster, who was part of the freshman class with forwards Ryan Pearson and Mike Morrison and guard Andre Cornelius, sat out last year while earning the redshirt and played a key role off the bench in the early part of this season.

Foster cashed in 15 points in the Puerto Rico Tip-off, but it wasn’t until the latter half of the season that he was a major player for the team. In last month’s game against the William & Mary Tribe, he shot 11-for-16 from the field and tallied a career-high 22 points; in his first start, Foster had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds in the Homecoming game.

With a heavily stacked young team, Foster ends his one-year stint, averaging 4.5 points in 26 games.

Outdoor track and field opens 2010 campaign at Mason Quadrangular
The men’s and women’s track and field teams hosted their outdoor season opener at the Mason Quadrangular on Saturday.

With a number of Mason representatives winning their respective events, the men’s team placed second in the meet with 144 points while the women ranked fifth.
Sophomore Kevin Hegel won the high jump while teammate junior David Wellington took second. Sophomore LaVell Handy won the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.51 seconds, beating his opponent by .32 seconds. Freshman George Empty placed first in the 400-meter dash in 48.66 seconds, and sophomore Parker Boudreau crossed the finish line in 8:27.26 to win the 3,000-meter run.

The women’s team had two winners in Saturday’s meet. Freshman Mandissa Marshall led off with a mark of 3.8 meters in the pole vault. Seniors Marie Fields and Tiara Swindell took first and second in the 200-meter dash. Fields inched past Swindell by .04 seconds.

Baseball cruises to 17-5 win over the Lancers
The baseball team took the field for the first time in a week on Tuesday afternoon against the Longwood Lancers, but showed no signs of rust in the early going.
Behind solid pitching and an abundance of hitting, the Patriots took a 17-5 victory at Longwood University and improved their record to 6-4 on the year.

After allowing a solo home run to Phil Cerreto in the bottom of the first inning, Mason responded with seven runs and batted around in the second frame. Junior designated hitter Shane Davis completed their scoring run with a two-run homerun.

The third inning was highlighted by RBI singles from freshman outfielder Nick Allen and redshirt sophomore outfielder Jeremy Haas.

Up 12-1 heading into the fifth, the Patriots plated three more runs. Senior shortstop Ryan Soares doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by senior first baseman Josh Steinberg before junior catcher Brett Hendricks pushed across Davis and senior third baseman Mark Hill.

The Patriots added one run apiece in the eighth and ninth innings and picked up a convincing victory in Farmville, Va.

Jamison attack not enough as women’s lacrosse falls 9-7 to Colgate
Junior attacker Madalyn Jamison fell one point short of matching her career-high for points in a single game as she racked two goals and four assists, but it was not enough for the women’s lacrosse team (2-4) in their 9-7 loss to the Colgate Raiders (3-4) on Tuesday night at George Mason Stadium.

Junior attacker Callie Hoyt and sophomore attacker Mary Schwartz added two goals apiece, but the Patriots were not able to overcome the two goals and four assists from Raiders midfielder Meghan Lawler.

Senior goalkeeper Sara Longobucco recorded five saves, but only managed one save in the second half.

After trailing 5-3 at halftime, Mason came even at 5-5 with two quick goals within the first two minutes of the second half. The Raiders responded with two goals to bring the lead to 7-5 and they never trailed after that.

The Patriots outshot and produced more ground balls while committing fewer turnovers, but the team was unable to turn the scoring opportunities into points, which wraps up Mason’s six-game homestand with a 2-4 record.