The Georgetown baseball team finds itself in an unfamiliar position: in contention for the playoffs. This year’s Hoyas (23-30, 9-15) have earned the most Big East wins of any Georgetown team since 1986, and they are in ninth place going into the final weekend of the season. If the Hoyas make the conference tournament on May 23-27, it would be their first appearance since that 1986 season. “It’s a great chance for the program to take another step forward,” Georgetown Head Coach Pete Wilk said. But, after being swept last weekend by Rutgers (27-23, 13-11), the Hoyas have diminished their chances of reaching the eight-team postseason tournament. Rutgers walked all over the Hoyas, who lost by scores of 9-5, 12-7 and 13-1. “We just didn’t do anything right,” Wilk said. “It was a very disappointing weekend.” The Scarlet Knights, meanwhile, clinched their spot in the Big East tournament with the sweep, thanks to an unusually impressive showing by their offense. Though Rutgers ranks just seventh out of 12 Big East teams in batting average (Georgetown is last), they tore up the Hoya starting pitching, which ranks last in the league in earned run average. Over the series, Georgetown’s three starters – seniors Warren Sizemore and Stephen Burns and freshman Darren Sizemore – gave up a combined 20 earned runs and 28 hits. Wilk attributed their troubles to poor pitch location. In a rare highlight for Georgetown, junior right fielder Mark McLaughlin stole his 22nd and 23rd bases of the year on Saturday, maintaining the top spot on the Big East’s steals leader board. Rutgers beat Georgetown with its big bats. Sophomore catcher Frank Meade tied the school’s single-season home run record with his 13th homer of the season. Junior designated hitter Nick Stavrakis hit a two-run homer in the five-run first inning, and sophomore shortstop Todd Frazier had a solo shot in the sixth. The Scarlet Knights sealed the sweep with another homerun outburst in the seventh inning. Frazier hit a three-run blast, senior first baseman Steve Hook crushed a two-run homer, and freshman right fielder Luis Feliz pounded another two-run home run to increase the Rutgers lead from 4-0 to 12-0. Frazier, who went 4-for-11 on the series with five RBI and two stolen bases, has emerged as a rising star for the Scarlet Knights. He ranks in the Big East top-10 in several categories, including 21 stolen bases (second), a .476 on-base percentage (fifth) and a .367 batting average (tenth). His standout performance this season earned him a rare invitation to try out for the USA baseball team. Georgetown meanwhile tried to respond in the bottom of that inning, as sophomore shortstop Matthew Bouchard hit a solo homer of his own. But it would be the only run that the Hoyas would manage to score on the game, and the final score came to 13-1. Bouchard and sophomore designated hitter Matthew Harrigan led the Hoyas at the plate, going 5-for-11 and 5-for-12, respectively, on the series. Rutgers senior starter Jim Jansen struck out five and gave up only three hits, including the Bouchard home run, in his eight innings of work. “To me, we lost that game early,” Wilk said. “We gave them four runs they didn’t earn. . We got punished for it.” The Georgetown defense struggled through the series, causing 11 errors altogether. Rutgers, on the other hand, only had one over the three games. Saturday was particularly difficult defensively for the Hoyas, as they totaled five errors in the one game. It was the difference between winning and losing for Georgetown, as those errors led to five runs for the Scarlet Knights in the 12-7 Hoya loss. “I hope that’s in the rearview mirror,” Wilk said, but he called Georgetown a “very schizophrenic team,” capable of playing extremely well or extremely poorly. In this final weekend of the regular season, the Hoyas have to win at least two-of-three games to stay in the running for the final two undecided playoff berths. Georgetown has a good chance to do just that, with second-to-last place Pittsburgh (8-16, 20-28) on the schedule. Even if eighth-place USF (23-32, 10-14) wins two of its three games, Georgetown would earn the last spot in the playoffs because the Hoyas have the advantage in the tiebreaker. But, with some mathematical help from results in other series, Pittsburgh could possibly steal Georgetown’s spot in the playoffs if the Panthers sweep. “I told the seniors, this is a great opportunity to put your mark on the program,” Wilk said. “They would leave an indelible mark on the program. I think that would be a great thing for this year’s team.” Georgetown and Pittsburgh played the first game of the series last night, but it began too late to be included in this report. The series continues today, with the second game starting at noon.