ATLANTA, April 2 – Sometimes one hit can make all the difference.

Georgetown junior first baseman Matt Harrigan, who had reached base only once all weekend in the Hoyas’ three-game set against Cincinnati, hit a game-winning RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to give Georgetown (12-16, 2-4 Big East) a 6-5 win over the Bearcats – its second victory over Cincinnati (14-13, 2-4) in three days.

“That was a big hit, both for [Harrigan] and for us,” Georgetown Head Coach Pete Wilk said Monday. “He had been struggling recently, and they had had his number all week.”

With the game tied 5-5 in the final inning, senior Derek deGrijs reached first after he was beaned by sophomore right-hander Jake Geiglein, and then advanced to third after two sacrifice hits by junior shortstop Matt Bouchard and junior designated-hitter Matt Ianetta. Harrigan, who had been quiet all weekend, seemed an unlikely hero when he strode to the plate with two outs and the winning run 90 feet away. But the Syracuse native smacked a base-hit to right field and deGrijs trotted home with the win.

Sophomore right-hander Jimmy Saris struck out 11 Bearcats in the Sunday thriller, the Hoyas’ second win in conference play. Saris leads the team with 53 strikeouts and has two games with double-digit K’s.

“Jimmy is doing so well for us,” Wilk said. “I think he’s pitching the best of the three [starting pitchers].”

Saris’ scorcher and Harrigan’s heroics came on the heels of an 11-3 smack down Saturday in which the Bearcats shellacked junior lefty Mike Gagglioli for six hits and seven runs in the first three and one-third innings. Senior first baseman Neall French’s three hits and five RBI helped the Bearcats to an 11-0 lead, and had it not been for a late three-run jack by senior catcher Brandon Davis, the Hoyas would have been shut out. It was the fourth dinger of the season for the co-captain from Poway, Calif.

“Our first four hitters are really turning it on,” Wilk said. “Ianetta is doing well, Bouchard is coming together and Davis is really one of those guys.”

Friday’s match – Georgetown’s first Big East game at Shirley Povich Field – was the opening act of Davis’ weekend fireworks show. After being plunked by sophomore right-hander Steve Blevins in his previous at-bat, Davis took Blevins for a ride with a one-out moon shot to deep center, adding to an already impressive offensive onslaught by the Hoyas.

Georgetown opened up a can early with a five-run first inning, including base knocks from Bouchard and freshman third baseman Joe Silvestri. The Bearcats may have looked stylish in their retro red-and-black striped stirrups, but they appeared foolish in the field, committing four errors and allowing the Hoyas five unearned runs.

“I can’t remember the last time we had a 5-0 lead to start a ballgame,” Wilk said, chuckling at the fact that his sometimes error-prone infield was finally on the other side of a sloppy game. “For some reason, we always play better when we are in the lead.”

Senior right-hander Erick Chandler hurled a strong six and two-thirds innings for the Hoyas, striking out six and earning his first win of the year.

The Bearcats tried to do their best to weasel their way into it as speedy junior third baseman Tony Campana stole three bases, but freshman righty Jack Bender tossed two innings and one-third frames of rock-hard relief for the save, and the Hoyas ran away with an 8-2 romp.

Georgetown continues its home stint today at Povich against the Patriots of George Mason. The Patriots looked dangerous when they stole a 5-1 game from then top-ranked Clemson on Feb. 17 and gave the Hoyas a good change of pace in the heat of conference play.

“[George Mason] is our toughest mid-week challenge,” Wilk said. “It will be a good opportunity for [freshman left-hander] Alex Meyer.”

Meyer and the Hoyas take the field at 3 p.m.