WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Sophomore shortstop Carsen Pracht drove in a career-high five runs and sophomore starter Chad Gartland tossed a complete-game to lead the Patriots to an 11-3 victory over Northeastern in an elimination game on Saturday afternoon in the Winston-Salem NCAA Regional at David F. Couch Ballpark.
The victory is the first for the Patriots in the NCAA Tournament in 31 years and second in program history.
The 11 runs are the most that the Patriots have scored in a NCAA Tournament game in program history. The previous high was in the 1992 East Regional in a 10-2 victory over Rider in Gainesville, Fla.
Mason freshman third baseman Evan Blanchard drove in a career-high four runs and was one of five Patriots with a multi-hit game.
Pracht, with five RBI and Blanchard with four RBI joined Lonnie Goldberg as Patriots to drive in four or more in a NCAA Tournament game. In the 1992 East Regional win over Rider, Goldberg drove in four runs for the Patriots.
Gartland threw his second complete game of the season to help the Patriots record their 35th win of the season, the most for the program since 2009.
Mason (35-26) took the lead against Northeastern freshman starter Aiven Cabral (44-16) in the top of the first inning.
Senior designated hitter South Trimble led off with a single down the right field line, advanced to second on a wild pitch and moved to third on a ground out. Junior center fielder Jordan Smith grounded out to first base, with Trimble racing home to put the Patriots in front, 1-0.
The Patriots improved to 23-9 when scoring the first run of the game and 28-3 when out-hitting opponents.
In the bottom of the third, Northeastern senior shortstop Spenser Smith hit a leadoff home run off Gartland to tie the game 1-1.
The Patriots scored the next seven runs to take control of the game.
With one out in the top of the fourth, sophomore catcher Connor Dykstra and sophomore first baseman Reece Woody each singled and senior second baseman Brett Stallings walked to load the bases.
Sophomore left fielder Alex Knapp then reached on a fielder's choice ground out, with Dykstra scoring on the play to vault the Patriots into the lead for good, 2-1.
Knapp stole second to put a pair of runners in scoring position for Blanchard, who delivered a two-run single up the middle to make the score 4-1.
With one out in the top of the sixth, Woody singled to left field and Stallings reached on a fielder's choice, with Woody out at second. The Patriots then put together a two-out rally against Huskies graduate student Griffin Young.
Blanchard drove in Stallings with a single to left field and Pracht followed with a two-run double down the left field line to extend the advantage to 7-1.
Mason tacked on a two-out run in the top of the eighth against Northeastern graduate student Jordy Allard. With Knapp on second after a double to left field, Pracht drove in his third run of the day with a single through the left side, with Knapp rumbling around to cross the plate and it was an 8-1 game.
Huskies senior designated hitter Alex Lane hit a two-out, solo home run to left field to make it 8-2.
In the top of the ninth, the Patriots put together their third three-run inning of the game against Huskies junior James Quinlivan.
Smith led off with a walk and Dykstra was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. After a strike out and a pop out, Knapp was issued a free pass to load the bases for the second to in the game. Blanchard then walked to force in a run to pad the lead to 9-1.
The Huskies summoned sophomore Brett Dunham from the bullpen looking for the final out of the inning and he was greeted by Pracht, who recorded a two-run single to center field to add to the Patriots lead, 11-2.
In the bottom of the ninth, Northeastern freshman left fielder Harrison Feinberg hit a leadoff home run to change the scoreboard for the final time.
For the Patriots, Gartland (7-2) allowed three runs on seven hits and stuck out five with two walks to earn the complete-game win.
For the Huskies, Cabral (9-4) allowed four runs on four hits in 4.0 innings and took the loss. Young surrendered three runs on three hits in 2.0 innings. Allard gave up one run on four hits in 1.2 innings. Quinlivan allowed three runs on three walks and one hit batter in 1.0 inning of work.
Pracht went 3-for-4 with a career-high five RBI. Blanchard was 2-for-3 with two walks, four RBI and one run scored. Knapp finished 1-for-3 with two walks, one RBI and four runs scored. Trimble, Dykstra and Woody each finished with two hits in the game.
The Patriots will face either No. 1 Wake Forest or No. 2 Maryland on Sunday, June 4, with the first pitch scheduled for noon at David F. Couch Ballpark in Winston-Salem, N.C.
