Dan Gelfand/The Hoya Junior pitcher Travis Danysh follows through on a pitch. He was pulled out of Tuesday’s game after giving up eight runs in only three innings.

The Georgetown baseball team finished on both ends of lopsided scores this week, losing to George Mason, 17-3, on Tuesday night before routing Mount St. Mary’s on Thursday, 18-9.

Thursday’s win makes this the third-winningest season in the program’s history. Georgetown (23-27 overall, 6-14 Big East) is enjoying its best season since 1986, when the Hoyas finished 23-22.

The Hoyas ran up against a hot George Mason team that had won 13 of its last 15 games. The Patriots demonstrated why they are among the national leaders in batting average, runs and earned run average on Tuesday night, notching 15 hits, including three home runs, in a 17-3 win.

George Mason jumped ahead with four runs in the top of the first. Junior first baseman Chris Looze crushed a two-run home run to center field, and the Patriots drove in two more runs with a double and a single.

Junior pitcher Travis Danysh was pulled out of the game in the third inning, when the Patriots scored four runs to move ahead 8-0. Danysh (3-4) took the loss after giving up eight runs on seven hits and two walks.

George Mason continued its onslaught against the Hoya bullpen, adding two runs in both the fourth and sixth innings to extend its lead to 12-0. The Patriots went ahead, 17-0, after batting around in the seventh to score five more runs.

By the end of the seventh inning, junior designated hitter Billy Quinn was the only Georgetown starter still in the lineup. The wholesale changes allowed a number of freshman and sophomore players to show what they could do.

Freshman left fielder Tommaso Trento led off the seventh with a single, his first collegiate hit. Freshman center fielder Derek DeGrijs and freshman shortstop Joe

Graziano both drew walks to load the bases. Sophomore first baseman Ryan Craft followed with a single up the middle to score Trento and put the Hoyas on the board. Freshman Kevin Giles followed with an RBI groundout to make it 17-2. Craft set the final score in the bottom of the ninth, when he hit his second home run, a solo shot to left field.

Scoreless until the seventh inning against George Mason, the Hoyas used an eight-run first inning to set the tone early against ount St. Mary’s on Thursday. Georgetown sent 12 batters to the plate in the first, capped off by junior right fielder Andrew Cleary’s two-run home run, his team-leading eighth of the year.

“Mike [Lombardi] said before I went up that I was going to hit a home run today, and I was kind of mad at him because I thought he might jinx me,” Cleary said.

“Hitting is contagious in baseball,” Cleary added. “Once you start hitting it’s hard to stop it.”

The Hoyas went on to build an 11-1 lead after three innings. The ounts got to within six after scoring a run in the fourth and plating three more in the top of the fifth. Sophomore pitcher Stephen Burns pitched effectively for the Hoyas, giving up five runs – three earned – in five innings to pick up his second win of the year.

“I thought it was a huge game for us, that’s why Stephen Burns got the ball,” Head Coach Pete Wilk said. “He did just what I asked him to do, go five [innings]. I thought it was important to get Stevie a win, he had some tough losses over the year, and he’s pitched very well for us.”

Georgetown extended its lead to 12-5 after scoring a run in the sixth. But the Hoyas broke the game open with six runs in the seventh. Georgetown capitalized on three walks and two hit batsmen in the inning to take a commanding 18-5 lead.

Mount St. Mary’s made some noise in the bottom of the ninth, scoring four runs before Georgetown closed out the 18-9 win.

Several Hoyas had big days at the plate. Quinn led the team with four RBIs on the day, while Cleary and sophomore first baseman Drew Dargen each drove in three. Junior second baseman Parker Brooks scored four runs and drove in a pair, while junior third baseman Jim Supple and sophomore shortstop Matthew Johnson also had two RBIs. Freshman center fielder Timmy Jones added four singles.

“This is definitely big for us to get back on a winning track,” Brooks said. “This win helps us get some momentum going into the weekend.”

Georgetown will travel to Boston College on Saturday for a crucial three-game series. The Hoyas are currently in last place in the Big East, but five other teams also have six conference wins. Georgetown could potentially move up to seventh with a good showing this weekend.

“We’re going to see some good arms, but we’re swinging the bats pretty well,” Wilk said. “I expect it to be a hard-fought, three-game series and if we can sneak a couple in Boston that would be terrific.”

Saturday’s doubleheader and Sunday’s game are both scheduled for noon. Junior Eddie Pena (4-4, 3.63 ERA), sophomore Warren Sizemore (4-5, 5.68 ERA) and freshman Erick Chandler (5-4, 3.54 ERA) will pitch for the Hoyas.