Dan Gelfand/The Hoya Junior shortstop Parker Brooks takes a throw at second base. The Hoyas pulled out a victory over Navy 3-1 on Tuesday, improving their record to 16-11 on the year.

You can never have enough pitching, the old baseball saying goes.

The Georgetown baseball team, already having compiled a 3.39 earned run average on the season, bolstered its pitching staff Tuesday with the return of senior Kevin Field. Field, a three-year starter for the Hoyas, returned from a shoulder injury to take the mound against Navy at Shirley Povich Field. He pitched the first inning of a 3-1 victory over the Midshipmen, giving way to juniors Eddie Pena and Thomas Braun out of the bullpen.

“The pitching was outstanding again,” Head Coach Pete Wilk said. “Pena was outstanding, and Braun came in and did the job.”

Georgetown (16-11, 2-1 Big East) matched its season high by improving its record to five games over .500.

Field cruised through the first inning, striking out the final batter he faced. Pena entered the game in the top of the second and kept Navy off base until the fifth inning. The two combined to retire the first 14 batters of the game.

“I think we’ve identified five quality starters, but Kevin Field has had a very good career for us,” Head Coach Pete Wilk said. “We’ll fit him in somewhere.”

The Hoyas took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second by playing small ball. Junior right fielder Andrew Cleary was hit by a pitch to start the inning and advanced to second base on a single by senior catcher Mike Lombardi. Senior left fielder Ron Cano’s sacrifice bunt moved the runners up a base, and Cleary later scored the game’s first run on a passed ball. Navy (5-16) scored its only run in the fifth when Pena gave up a pair of two-out singles. The runners advanced on a fielding error by Cano, and the lead runner scored on a wild pitch.

Pena (3-1) allowed just two hits thereafter, picking up the win with 6.1 innings of work while giving up just one unearned run and striking out eight.

The game remained tied going into the bottom of the sixth, but the Hoyas quickly regained the lead. Following a walk to junior designated hitter Billy Quinn, Cleary launched a two-run blast to left field for his conference-leading fifth home run.

Cleary led the Georgetown offense against Navy, hitting 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Overall the Hoyas struggled at the plate for much of the game, as Navy pitcher Robert Herrick kept the hitters off balance with a steady diet of off-speed pitches.

“We should have made more noise with the bats,” Wilk said. “We didn’t make adjustments as quickly as I’d like.”

The Midshipmen threatened in the top of the eighth when Pena walked the first batter of the inning. After a strikeout, Pena gave up a single to put runners on first and second. Wilk signaled for Braun out of the bullpen, and the Hoyas’ closer quickly induced a 5-4-3 double play.

Braun pitched a perfect 1.2 innings to pick up his third save of the season.

Georgetown’s early season success is due in part to the team’s improved ability to close out games. The Hoyas saved only two games in 2003, but have already saved four this year.

“It’s had a tremendous impact on us,” Wilk said. “If you watched the Red Sox last year, you saw how having a question mark in the bullpen affects the entire staff. Braun’s stabilized the bullpen. It makes the game shorter, and gives me a sense of ease at the end. We’ve lost a lot of games late during my time here.”

“It also makes the starters better,” he added. “It helps them preserve the victory. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Eddie Pena is 3-1 this year.”

Georgetown travels to Jamaica, N.Y., for a three-game series against Big East rival St. John’s this weekend. Wilk said that he expects to face a number of quality pitchers, and that he hopes that the Hoyas’ bats will respond accordingly.

“If our offense wakes up a little bit, we’ll have a good weekend,” Wilk said. “It should be an interesting series.”

Sophomore Warren Sizemore (2-2, 3.74 ERA) will take the mound for the Hoyas in the opening game of Saturday’s doubleheader, and freshman Erick Chandler (2-2, 2.86) will start the nightcap. Sophomore Stephen Burns (1-3, 1.89) will get the ball on Sunday.

The first pitch is scheduled for noon on both days.