BASEBALL Hoyas Can’t Get Back on Track vs. Terrapins By John-Paul Hezel Hoya Staff Writer

Apparently still thinking about the hills of California after a six-game West Coast trip last week, the Georgetown baseball team fell hard to Maryland, 8-1, on Tuesday at Shipley Field in College Park, Md.

“We’ve been talking about this game for a long time,” Head Coach Peter Wilk said. “The coaches and I wondered how the kids would respond with the jet lag.”

In front of 131 fans, Wilk and assistant coaches Matt Allison and Trevor Brown got their answer: Not well. The Hoyas (5-15) looked as if they just stepped off the plane, never finding any consistency on the mound or at the plate.

Starting pitcher Kevin Field (1-2) lasted only three 3 2/3 innings, facing 22 batters and allowing eight hits and six earned runs. The sophomore right-hander also walked two and struck out five in suffering the loss.

Freshman reliever Tyler Abbott followed Field with 2 1/3 innings of two-hit, one-run ball, but Georgetown could not generate any offense to get the score close. The Hoyas collected only one extra-base hit, a double in the first by sophomore Ron Cano, and six singles. Freshman first baseman James Supple was the only Georgetown player with two hits, going 2-for-4.

“We didn’t come to play,” Wilk said. “We didn’t compete.”

The Terrapins (14-2), who set a new school record with their 12th straight win, wasted little time crossing home in the first. After Field retired the lead-off hitter, senior right fielder Matt Swope hit the first of his two doubles and junior shortstop John cCurdy knocked him in with a single to center. Two batters later, sophomore third baseman Anthony Buffone doubled in McCurdy to put aryland up 2-0.

The Terps added another run in the third on McCurdy’s second RBI single and three more in the fourth, highlighted by a two-run home run to left by freshman catcher Jason Maxey, who added a solo blast in the fifth and a double in the seventh.

Swope, McCurdy and Maxey essentially beat Georgetown by themselves. Each finished with three hits and as a group accounted for five runs and seven RBI.

Georgetown struck out eight times against five Terrapin pitchers and had to rely on an RBI single by Supple in the eighth to keep from getting shut out. Freshman shortstop Matt Johnson singled with one out and advanced to second on a single by junior Tony Lee. Senior designated hitter Mike Green loaded the bases and Supple followed with a line drive to left to put the Hoyas on the scoreboard. Georgetown had the bases loaded with only one out, but Cano grounded into a double play to end all chances of a late comeback.

The loss was Georgetown’s fourth in a row prior to starting Big East play this weekend against Seton Hall. Wilk has named senior Eric Sutton, freshman Eddie Pena and sophomore Kevin Field the starters, in that order, for the three game series.

Although he was disappointed by the effort at Maryland, Wilk remains optimistic.

“Overall we’re playing better,” he said. “Hopefully, we’re maturing by the inning.”