Daily Orange /The Hoya The Hoyas got their fifth win of the season against Long Island University yesterday. Above, the Hoyas in action last season. An upgrade in maturity, experience, commitment and talent in this year’s Georgetown baseball team propelled the Hoyas to their fifth victory of the 2001 season yesterday versus Long Island University.
Behind clutch hitting and strong relief pitching, Georgetown (5-13, 1-2 Big East) fought back from an early deficit and held on to defeat the LIU Blackbirds, 7-5, in front of 57 fans at Shirley Povich Field in Bethesda, Md.
Down 3-0 after an inning and a half, the Hoyas got three two-out RBI base hits, a single by senior first baseman Eric Santana, a double by freshman short stop Ron Cano and a single by senior third baseman Jay Catalano, to tie the game.
Up 7-5 after five innings, the Hoyas brought junior right hander P.J. Martinez in relief of sophomore starter Patrick Salivitti, who gave up five runs on six hits in five innings.
“The thing that changed it for us was that Martinez came in and held them scoreless so we could get a couple more runs on the board,” Georgetown Head Coach Peter Wilk said.
Martinez struck out two, walked none, gave up one hit and permitted only one unearned run in three solid innings.
Junior Tony Pina continued his tremendous pitching by throwing a scoreless ninth for his second save.
The Georgetown coaching staff has emphasized throwing strikes and the Hoya pitchers have been delivering more often than not.
“We’re preaching pounding the strike zone to minimize walks and free baserunners,” Wilk said. “When we do, our defense plays better.”
Long Island made six errors on the game to Georgetown’s four and the Hoyas were able to capitalize on their opponent’s miscues.
“Their inability to handle the ball helped us out quite a bit,” Wilk said, “but we jumped all over it. I think last year we lose this game.”
Sophomore right fielder Marc Carlini launched a two-run double in the bottom of the eighth to secure the victory.
“That put the nail in the coffin,” Wilk said.
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