FAIRFAX, Va. – Navy baseball (31-14) used an 11-run second inning to win its final midweek game of the season, 18-12, on the road against George Mason (15-25). In the second inning, the Midshipmen sent 16 batters to the plate and racked up nine of their 19 hits in the frame. Navy also held off a late rally from the Patriots to pick up the win at Spuhler Field in Fairfax, Va.
 
All nine Navy hitters notched at least one hit with seven players finishing with multi-hit games. The duo of Christian Hodge (Sr., Winder, Ga.) and Michael Coritz (Jr., Clifton, Va.) led the offense with a combined six hits and nine RBIs. Hodge went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and five runs scored while Coritz was 3-for-5 with five RBIs and two runs scored. 
 
"We had a really balanced attack today," head coach Paul Kostacopoulos said after the game. "Everybody one through nine contributed today. The bottom of the order really produced today with Michael Coritz and Christian Policelli leading the bottom of the lineup. We had better at-bats today and handled the bats really well today."
 
George Mason had the fast start with a seven-pitch top of the first inning to retire Navy in order followed by a two-run bottom of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead.
 
The Midshipmen then got their offense rolling in the second inning and sent 16 batters to the plate in the inning and scored 11 runs on nine hits to take a commanding lead. Navy batted around in the second inning without recording an out after seven players recorded a hit and two earned walks.
 
Liam Lowery (Sr., Williamsburg, Va.) and Christian Policelli (Fr., Walkersville, Md.) recorded back-to-back run-scoring singles to tie the game at two in the second inning. Coritz drove in two runs with a single up the middle and Zach Biggers (Jr., Walhalla, S.C.) followed with two more RBIs after reaching base on a triple. The string of three-straight run-scoring hits came to an end with an RBI double from Jacob Williamson (Jr., Sims, N.C.).
 
With a 7-2 lead in the second inning, Hodge increased the Navy lead with an RBI single. Then, with two outs, Joe Simourian (Fr., Andover, Mass.) drew a bases-loaded walk to push Navy ahead by seven runs. Coritz capped off his four-RBI inning with another two-RBI single to give Navy an 11-2 advantage after two innings.
 
The Midshipmen got the first two batters aboard to start the third inning looking to increase its lead. Zach Stevens (Fr., Lexington, Mass.) gave a 2-0 pitch a drive out to deep left field, but his deep shot was caught on the warning track for the first out in the inning. However, just four pitches later, Hodge put a ball over the wall in left field to give Navy a 14-2 lead with a three-run home run. Hodge's third-inning home run was his 11th of the season and he is now just one home run away from tying the single-season home run record.
 
After falling behind by 12 runs, the Patriots started to chip away at its deficit with the next six runs. George Mason scored two runs in the fourth inning and then four runs in the fifth inning.
 
Navy got a run back in the sixth inning with Biggers notching his third RBI of the day with a single out to centerfield allowing Coritz to come in and score to push Navy's lead to 15-8. Coritz moved his RBI total to five on the day with a bases-loaded walk as the Midshipmen doubled up the Patriots, 16-8, in the seventh inning
 
George Mason did not go away quietly with its second four-run inning to pull within four runs heading into the final two innings of the ballgame.
 
Now holding just a four-run advantage in the eighth inning, Policelli gave Navy some additional breathing room with a two-out, two-RBI double as the Midshipmen took an 18-12 edge heading into the final stretch of the game. Jackson Zoch (Sr., San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) got the final five outs of the game in order to seal Navy's 18-12 victory.
 
Trent Topping (Fr., Temecula, Calif.) moved to 2-3 on the year with the win out of the bullpen. He tossed 1-2/3 innings allowing one run on two hits and two walks.
 
Nate Young (1-3) suffered the loss for George Mason as he allowed eight runs on seven hits in just one inning of work.
 
The Midshipmen closeout their regular-season home schedule this weekend with a doubleheader against Lehigh on Saturday and doubleheader against Lafayette on Sunday for Senior Day. Both doubleheaders are set to start at 1 p.m.