Brenna cGee/The Hoya Junior pitcher Travis Danysh prepares to launch the ball. Georgetown handed Buffalo four consecutive losses, bringing the Hoyas’ record up to 6-5 for February.

The Hoyas’ bats have begun to heat up with the first signs of spring.

The Georgetown baseball team swept a four-game series from Buffalo at Shirley Povich Field last weekend. The Hoyas have won five consecutive games and, at 6-5, are off to their best start since opening the 2000 season with the same record.

Georgetown put together a lethal combination of strong pitching and relentless hitting all weekend, winning by scores of 8-1, 7-3, 10-0 and 10-2.

“We got hungry, and that’s something that’s changed in this program,” Head Coach Pete Wilk said. “We didn’t have that killer instinct, and this is the first time I’ve seen it, and I can’t tell you how happy I am to see it.”

Saturday’s opener set the tone for the series. Sophomore Stephen Burns pitched a seven-inning complete game for his first win of the season. Burns (1-2) allowed five hits and one run, adding a walk and four strikeouts in the 8-1 victory.

Georgetown scored three runs in the fourth inning, as sophomore centerfielder Timmy Jones hit a two-run homer and junior second baseman Parker Brooks added an RBI double.

The Hoyas followed with a five-run fifth. Junior right fielder Andrew Cleary hit a two-run homer and sophomore third baseman Danny Gronski had a three-run shot.

The 8-0 score stood until Buffalo’s James Kingsley broke up the shutout bid with a one-out homerun in the seventh.

The Hoyas capitalized on nine walks in Saturday’s second game to slug out a 7-3 win. Sophomore first baseman Drew Dargen got things started for Georgetown with an RBI double in the first inning. He later scored on an error by the second baseman to give the Hoyas a 2-0 lead.

Georgetown scored again in the bottom of the fourth, and Buffalo answered with a run in the top of the fifth. Georgetown pulled ahead 6-0 in the bottom of the inning when Jones hit an RBI double and senior left fielder Ron Cano smacked a two-run single.

After the Bulls added two more runs, Georgetown scored once more in the bottom of the seventh to take a 7-3 advantage.

Junior Eddie Pena (1-0) started the game for Georgetown, giving up three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out seven. Freshman Erick Chandler continued to impress out of the bullpen, giving up just one hit and a walk in 3.1 scoreless innings for the save.

Sunday’s doubleheader brought even greater production from the Georgetown lineup. The opener was a 10-0 rout whose outcome was only briefly in question.

Sophomore Warren Sizemore picked up his second win of the year with a complete game shutout. Sizemore (2-2) gave up just four hits and two walks in seven innings while striking out four.

For his efforts against Buffalo, as well as his win against ount St. Mary’s last Wednesday, Sizemore was named Big East Pitcher of the Week. Sizemore was 2-0 with nine strikeouts and did not give up an earned run.

Jones opened the floodgates in Sunday’s opener with a three-run triple in the first inning, and later scored on a single by Cano. Senior designated hitter Mike Lombardi’s RBI double in the second inning extended the lead to 5-0.

Georgetown put the game away in the third inning, when the Hoyas scored five runs on four hits. The big blow came on Cleary’s two-run blast to right-center, his second homer of the series.

Lombardi finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate, with three RBIs and two runs scored. In the series, Cleary hit 6-for-12 with six RBIs and two homers. The increased production from Lombardi and Clearly, coupled with Jones’ strong hitting of late, is a welcome sign for the Georgetown offense.

“I was really struggling at the beginning of the year,” Cleary said. “I guess it was just a matter of time, getting reps, and coming out here. I felt great today and yesterday.”

While the final 10-2 score might suggest otherwise, the series finale stayed close for most of the game. Georgetown scored a first-inning run and the scoreboard read 1-0 until the bottom of the seventh inning.

Junior Travis Danysh (1-0) gave up just one hit in six innings but walked six batters. Yet he also pitched himself out of trouble every time and kept Buffalo scoreless.

The Hoyas finally broke the game open in the seventh inning. Georgetown scored eight runs on seven hits in the inning, highlighted by Dargen’s pinch-hit grand slam that essentially put the game away.

“I pulled my hamstring and that’s why I wasn’t out there [in the starting lineup] today,” Dargen said. “It was nice to get in in a tough situation and put the bat on the ball.”

“These four wins have given us so much confidence at the plate and playing defense,” Cleary added. “Like today, 1-0 all the way to the seventh inning, last year someone would’ve made an error, we would have blown it somehow. And this year, we play defense so well and gave ourselves chances to score some runs.”

Wilk was able to rest his bullpen this weekend, using just three relievers in four games. The fresh arms will be a benefit as the Hoyas prepare to head to Florida for the Rollins College Baseball Week tournament over spring break, where they will play six games in four days.

Georgetown plays host to UMBC tomorrow in a 2:30 p.m. game at Shirley Povich Field.