Two early leads turned into two non-conference wins for the Hoya baseball team this week. The wins snapped a five-game Georgetown losing streak.

On Tuesday, Georgetown blasted four runs in the first inning against Coppin State and the Hoyas went on to win the home game 8-6. At George Washington the next day, the Hoyas had a five-run second inning to kick off what would become a 10-6 victory.

“We needed to win. We needed to get back on track. It’s as simple as that,” Georgetown Head Coach Pete Wilk said. “We really needed to get our confidence back. We did it, I think.” Confidence has been difficult to muster for the Hoyas after three straight losses to Cincinnati, the final one coming on a heartbreaking grand slam after the Hoyas had held the Bearcats to only four runs through six innings.

Senior outfielder Mark McLaughlin led the charge, hitting 5-for-6 over the two games with five runs, three RBIs and four stolen bases.

Wilk has been shaking up his lineup in an effort to get the struggling Hoya offense to heat up. This week’s games showed that the effort could be working, as Georgetown (19-24, 5-10) has improved its end of the score in each of the past three games.

“We’re kind of making a conscious change offensively,” Wilk said, “just because we were struggling so much. We’re trying to jumpstart the guys, pretty much.

“Against better competition, we’ll see how it goes over, but I think we’re gonna stay with it.”

McLaughlin, for example, has moved from his usual spot at the top of the order, where he went 0-for-6 in the first two games against Cincinnati last weekend, to sixth on Sunday (1-for-3), to fifth on Tuesday (2-for-3) and up to second on Wednesday (3-for-3).

“Obviously, him getting on base in front of Ryan [Craft, who hits third,] or knocking in runs like he did over at GW was big,” Wilk said. “No question, he’s an important guy offensively for us.”

Against the Colonials (15-25, 6-7 Atlantic-10), the Hoyas’ five-run second inning gave them a lead that they would not relinquish for the rest of the game, no matter how seriously GW threatened. Three of those runs actually came on bases-loaded walks.

McLaughlin and Craft pulled off a double steal in the fourth, and both eventually scored, running the score to 7-0. Georgetown ended the day with six swipes while GW had three (and one Colonial was caught).

GW came up with four runs in the fifth, aided by two Georgetown errors. The Hoyas’ defense was shaky in both games – they botched three plays in each game. In fact, Georgetown has committed 82 errors so far this season, the second-worst total in the Big East.

The Hoyas put on three more runs for insurance over the rest of the game, and they proved valuable, as the Colonials tried to spark a last-inning rally. GW scored two, but the game ended with Georgetown ahead 10-6.

The Hoyas only used two pitchers, junior starter Mark Dutmers and sophomore Grady McConnell, who earned his first win of the year.

Colonial freshman starter Jim Duggan (0-1) came out early in the second inning, giving up three runs without being able to get anybody out. His replacement, senior Justin Prinstein, only lasted for four at-bats himself, giving up a single, striking out one and allowing two walks before he got pulled.

Wilk has shaken up the Georgetown pitching staff, bringing in senior Matthew Johnson, normally a shortstop, to pitch the last five innings against Coppin State (9-32-1, 4-5 MEAC). He struck out a whopping nine while giving up just one hit and three walks – and it was only the second pitching appearance of his collegiate career.

Johnson earned the winning decision in that 8-6 Hoya victory.

“He threw the ball extremely well, and we’re going to expand his role,” Wilk said. “We had a lot of innings to cover within five days. He really stepped up for us and contributed in a huge way.”

With 12 Big East games left in the season, Georgetown still has time to gain ground in the conference standings. If the Hoyas keep winning at least at their current .333 league percentage, they could finish with nine conference wins – and that would be their highest victory total since 1996, when the Big East started playing at least 25 league games per season.

This weekend, Georgetown will take on eighth-place South Florida (19-23, 8-10). Though the Hoyas are in second-to-last place right now, their overall record is just a half-game shy of the Bulls’.

Play gets underway Friday at 6:30 p.m. in Tampa, Fla.