GU Snaps Delaware State’s Streak

Ruthie Braunstein/The Hoya Freshman catcher Michael Lombardi is batting .298 in 2001.

The Georgetown baseball team proved that it is not allergic to bee stings yesterday during its double header against the Delaware State Hornets.

Only two hours after Delaware pummeled the Hoyas in the first game at Shirley Povich Field, Georgetown took its Epi pen, put ice on the wound and Raided the Hornets with an 11-3 victory, snapping the Hoyas’ eight-game losing streak.

Georgetown lost the opener 15-1.

“It was a test of character,” said Hoyas’ Head Coach Peter Wilk of the crucial victory. “We had just gotten our butts kicked, and we [the coaches] had talked to the team in between games about being a little tougher.”

Tougher, indeed.

After the Hornets stung and grabbed a 3-0 lead on three hits in the first inning, senior starting pitcher Jim Vankoski composed himself and stung right back, scattering five hits and allowing no runs over the next five frames.

Meanwhile, the Hoya offense flew into a rage and droned out Delaware with a 10-hit, 11-run attack. Sophomores Jason Boice and Tony Lee, junior Eric Sutton and senior Marc Carlini collected two hits apiece, and senior Eric Santana, Sutton, Boice and sophomore Robert O’Hare each knocked in two.

In the bottom of the third, the Hoyas broke out of their funk and exploded offensively, sending 11 men to the plate.

Carlini singled on a bunt to third base and Boice followed with a triple to score the first run. Lee flied out to left, but Sutton doubled down the left field line and Santana singled up the middle to tie the game. Senior Brian Cassese reached on a fielding error, and Santana scored to put the Hoyas up one. Junior Phil Pierorazio then flied to left for the second out and senior Jay Catalano and Carlini each followed with walks to give the Hoyas a 5-3 lead and knock the Hornets’ pitcher from the game. Boice flied out to center to end the inning.

Having shifted the momentum in its favor, Georgetown worked hard to keep it in the top of the fourth.

Vankoski allowed a lead off single that seemed like a bad omen after the Hoyas had just taken the lead. The next batter hit a hard ground ball that looked headed up the middle. But Catalano dove to his right, snagged the ball on his backhand and flipped it to Cassesse, who threw a bullet to Sutton who in turn scooped the one-hopper out of the dirt for the double play.

“It was one of the best college double plays I’ve ever seen,” Wilk said. “It was a big stop. It really turned the tide of the game.”

The Hoyas continued to swarm Delaware with a run in the fourth and five more in the fifth, well on their way to ending the Hornets’ 12-game winning streak.

Unlike the potent production of the second game, Georgetown’s offense lacked the same punch in the first, managing only one run in the second inning on a double by Cano. The Hornets, however, lived up to their name, buzzing out 15 runs on 14 hits and giving the Hoyas a reason for revenge.

“I was proud of them after [the nightcap],” Wilk said. “I was disgusted [after the opener].”