In its first game following a week-long spring training series in Florida, Georgetown watched their 7-1 lead disappear as they fell to Mount St. Mary’s (5-9), 10-9, on a walkoff two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth.
Georgetown came out hot in the first three innings, notching two runs in the first and five in the third. In the top of the first, an RBI single from senior catcher Kevin Johnson and a sac fly from sophomore first baseman Steven Anderson got the Hoyas on the board first. Bases-loaded singles from freshman infielder Ryan Busch and senior catcher Nick Geary tacked on three more runs in the third, and junior centerfielder and leadoff man Justin Leeson capped off the big inning with another two-run single to increase the Hoyas’ lead to 7-1.
Pitching for the Hoyas was freshman Will Brown, who through two innings of work had only surrendered one run. Following the Hoyas’ productive top half of the third, though, catastrophe struck for the true freshman. In the bottom half of the inning, Brown surrendered both a solo home run and a two-run home run to cut the Georgetown lead to 7-4.
The Hoya offense would counter in the top half of the fifth thanks to the bat of redshirt junior shortstop Mike Garza. After Leeson and junior outfielder Paul Bello each reached base, Garza roped a single down the left field line to plate two and push the lead to 9-4.
After the Hoyas gave up another run in the bottom half of the sixth, Head Coach Pete Wilk sent out junior reliever James Heine to take over pitching duties in the seventh. Although Heine got a quick first out, things quickly unraveled for the Hoyas. An error by Garza, a hit batter and an infield single loaded the bases for Mount St. Mary’s. Following a two-run single and another error on the infield, the Blue and Gray’s lead was cut to only one run.
Following a scoreless eighth and top half of the ninth, the stage was set for Mount St. Mary’s senior left fielder Tom Healy. Junior reliever Charles Steinman recorded the first out of the inning with ease before hitting a Mount batter in a 3-2 count. With the winning run on base, Healy ripped a 0-1 pitch over the right field fence to complete the Mount St. Mary’s comeback and sink the Hoyas.
Despite putting up nine runs, Georgetown could not overcome the four errors it commited.
“[Errors] cost us the game,” Wilk said. “We make two fairly routine plays yesterday, and we don’t lose that game. … We’ve given away at least two games with shoddy defense in the past 10 days.”
Johnson, Leeson, Garza, Geary and junior Danny Poplawski each had two hits on the day, while Anderson tallied three.
The loss is the second straight for the Hoyas, who fell to Bucknell, 18-3, in their last spring training game at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.
In their nine-game spring break stretch in Florida, the Hoyas had the opportunity to go head-to-head with the future of baseball in Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon when Georgetown took on the Washington Nationals. Led by hard-throwing lefty and recent draftee Matt Purke, the Nationals kept the Hoyas off the scoreboard and shut them out, 3-0.
The Blue and Gray followed the game against the Nats with two wins against St. Bonaventure. The tide quickly turned for the Hoyas, though, who then dropped three straight to Bowling Green, Northeastern and Yale. The Hoyas rebounded with victories against Yale and Iowa but were crushed in their last game against Bucknell.
The trip to Florida allowed the Hoyas to face some new competition and provided some necessary preparation for challenging conference series on the horizon.
“Overall, it was an excellent experience and we became closer as a team down there, and some of our younger guys got a taste of playing time and experience that will help us in the long run,” Wilk said.
Before the Hoyas move on to conference play, they will take on local rival George Washington in a three-game series this weekend. The battle for M Street will commence Friday at Shirley Povich Field, with first pitch slated for 3 p.m.
