BASEBALL GU Finally Wins Hoyas Hold on over Howard By Tom Kenny Hoya Staff Writer

Ruthie Braunstein/The Hoya Georgetown broke a 15-game losing streak yesterday.

BETHESDA, Md. – Finally, the skid is over. Thursday afternoon, the Georgetown baseball team did something it had not done in nearly a month. It won a game.

Georgetown (8-35) defeated the Howard University Bison (7-28) 18-6 in Bethesda. While the sun did not make an appearance all afternoon, the Hoya offense was present throughout the contest. The win broke a 15 game losing streak for the Hoyas.

“This was a big win for us,” Head Coach Pete Wilk said after the game, “We lost to this team last year. Today we battled and took care of business.

The Hoyas had to battle from the start as sophomore right-hander Kevin Galvin (2-2) had a long and trying first inning. Galvin reached 90 mph on the radar gun with his fastball, but was unable to consistently throw his changeup or curve for strikes. Bison hitters knew to look for the heat and tagged Galvin for two quick runs.

Georgetown’s first three hitters were promptly retired by a lanky Bison lefthander, freshman Omar Raheem (0-4). The Hoya lineup was kept quiet until junior right fielder Rob O’Hare came to the plate with two on and two out in the second inning.

O’Hare drove a high fastball into the right field corner for a two-run double. Freshman shortstop Matt Johnson, back from a sprained ankle, then drove O’Hare home to put the Hoyas up 3-2.

O’Hare and Johnson’s at-bats were the first of two clutch performances by Hoya hitters early in the game. The second came in the third with one man down and the bases loaded. Sophomore designated hitter Bret McLeod stood at the plate with junior first basemen Matt Carullo on deck.

McLeod and Carullo drove home four runs with back-to-back doubles to give Georgetown the lead, 7-5. The Hoyas only stretched their advantage from here. After Galvin surrendered his sixth run the Hoya relievers shut out Howard the rest of the way.

As Georgetown’s relief pitching shined, its hitters took advantage of the Bison’s erratic hurlers. Howard walked 13 Hoyas yesterday, three players trotted home with the bases loaded.

The Hoyas big lead gave a number of important starters a well-deserved rest. With these players sitting down a number of reserves played valuable innings.

“Some guys on the bench that have worked hard all year got a chance to go out there today,” Wilk said.

Among these reserves was a pair of freshmen, pitcher Travis Danysh and catcher Chris Burling. Danysh threw a scoreless inning of relief to Burling. The freshman catcher shared time with classmate James Supple in replacing sophomore Mike Lombardi, Georgetown’s starting catcher, who is out with an injury.

The Hoyas have been hit with a number of injuries this season, but reserve play like Wilk saw yesterday is a good sign for games to come. However, there is no better sign for Georgetown baseball than wins.

“This was a good win. I hope we can build on it this weekend,” Wilk said.

This weekend the Hoyas stay home at Cabin John Park in Bethesda, d. for a three-game set against Virginia Tech. Saturday’s doubleheader and Sunday’s game both begin at noon.