George Mason shattered a 42-year-old Division I baseball record by scoring 23 runs in a single inning against Holy Cross. The crazy part? The first batter of the inning bunted for an out. From there, it turned into chaos. Walks, bunts, hit-by-pitches, and defensive meltdowns piled on as six different Holy Cross pitchers tried and failed to stop the bleeding. One pitcher came in after a mound visit and immediately gave up a bases-clearing double. Another came in and walked in three runs. A fielder’s choice turned into a three-run error, and even the first baseman ended up pitching.
George Mason kept rolling with small ball. They laid down successful bunts even when already up big. Hit batters and wild pitches became routine. One reliever walked three straight and hit a batter, all with the bases loaded. The highlight for Mason was a double down the line that cleared the bases and added three more. At one point they were stealing with a 15-run lead, drawing laughs more than criticism. Holy Cross contributed with throwing errors, misjudged grounders, and bad decisions on routine plays.
All told, Mason sent 26 batters to the plate, recorded several hits, and took a walk or a free base nearly every other batter. The cleanup hitter bunted for the first out, got hit by two pitches, then grounded into a fielder’s choice for the final out in the same inning. They couldn’t even display the full score on the scoreboard until the bottom of the frame ended. George Mason ended up winning 26-6, but that second inning will be what people remember.