Brenna McGee/The Hoya Junior right fielder Andrew Cleary swings for the fences during an at-bat earlier in the season. Cleary continued his strong offensive play over the break with a three-run homer against Long Island.

After a successful trip to Florida over spring break, the Georgetown baseball team received a rude welcome back to the Washington area.

Georgetown finished in second place at the Rollins College Baseball Week tournament, but were blown out by Maryland on Wednesday, 17-4.

Despite a current three-game losing streak, Georgetown (13-10) is still enjoying its best start in 20 years. The Hoyas are just one victory away from matching last year’s win total, a mark they will look to surpass this weekend as the Big East schedule begins with a three-game series against Seton Hall.

The Hoyas continued their strong start by going 4-0 against Long Island and the University of Pennsylvania during Baseball Week. Georgetown struggled against host Rollins, however. The Tars, ranked fifth among Division II schools by Baseball America, beat the Hoyas three times, including a 5-4 victory in the championship game, to win the tournament with a 7-0 record.

“We played pretty well,” Head Coach Pete Wilk said. “There were two games I thought we had [against Rollins], but we didn’t close them out.”

The Hoyas won Wednesday’s opener against Long Island, 5-1, on the arm of junior Eddie Pena. Pena struck out 10 batters in one of the best performances of his Georgetown career, allowing just one unearned run on six hits in a complete game.

Georgetown and Penn matched up in a slugfest on Thursday, with the Hoyas coming out on top, 9-6. Sophomore designated hitter Ryan Craft, senior left fielder Ron Cano and senior catcher Mike Lombardi each homered for Georgetown.

Sophomore Stephen Burns pitched a strong game later that night, keeping Rollins scoreless through eight innings. The Hoyas entered the top of the ninth leading 1-0, but Rollins scored twice to move ahead and held on for the win.

Burns (1-3) was the hard-luck loser, striking out nine in 8.1 innings.

Georgetown bounced back on Friday to claim a 7-2 win against Long Island. Junior right fielder Andrew Cleary’s three-run homer highlighted a four-run fourth inning, while freshman Mark Dutmers picked up the win with three scoreless innings of relief.

The Hoyas played another back-and-forth game against Penn on Saturday, picking up a 9-5 victory. Cleary drove in three runs for the second straight game, while both Cano and freshman center fielder Derek DeGrijs pitched in with a pair of RBIs.

Georgetown’s rematch with Rollins produced another pair of strong pitching performances, but the Hoyas were once again on the wrong end of a 4-2 decision.

Freshman Erick Chandler, making his first collegiate start for the Hoyas, struck out 10 but gave up four runs (three earned) in 6.1 innings.

After losing its two previous games against Rollins by a combined three runs, the Hoyas once again dropped a close contest to the Tars in Sunday’s title game. Georgetown led, 4-1, but Rollins scored four runs in the seventh inning to take the lead for good.

The Hoyas scored a pair of runs in both the third and sixth innings. Senior second baseman Parker Brooks sparked Georgetown’s offense at the top of the lineup, going 4-for-5 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored. Lombardi drove in a pair with a single in the third inning.

Sophomore Warren Sizemore started the game for the Hoyas, keeping Rollins off the scoreboard until the bottom of the sixth when the Tars scored its first run of the game.

Sizemore ran into trouble in the bottom of the seventh, giving up a leadoff homer and left the game a few batters later, with one out and runners on first and second.

Dutmers relieved Sizemore and retired the first batter he faced. But Mike Crane hit a drive over the right field wall for a three-run home run to put Rollins ahead, 5-4. Georgetown had two runners on with one out in the eighth inning, but the rally died after freshman Derek DeGrijs was doubled up at first base after sophomore third baseman Danny Gronski lined out to right.

Rollins retired the Hoyas in order in the bottom of the ninth to claim its 21st Baseball Week championship.

“That’s still hurting me,” Wilk said. “It would’ve been a nice, nice win for the program. Rollins has a very good team this year.”

Georgetown placed four players on the all-tournament team, including Lombardi (.429 batting average, eight RBIs), Brooks (.375), Pena (0.00 ERA) and junior Thomas Braun (0.00, one save), who has moved into the closer role.

After a strong showing in Florida, Georgetown returned home and suffered its worst lost of the year at the hands of Maryland. The Terps pounded the Hoyas’ pitching for 21 hits, cruising to a 17-4 win at Prince George’s Stadium in Bowie, Md.

Pena (2-1) started the game and struggled through four innings, giving up seven runs (six earned) on seven hits in the loss. Junior ichael Halloran also gave up six earned runs in his inning of relief.

One positive for the Hoyas was the return of junior Billy Quinn, who has missed nearly a month with a knee injury. Quinn had a pinch-hit single again in the ninth inning and should be in the lineup tomorrow against Seton Hall.

The Hoyas play host to the Pirates in a noon doubleheader tomorrow at Shirley Povich Field. Sizemore (2-2, 4.04) and Chandler (1-2, 2.25) will start for the Hoyas. Junior Travis Danysh (3-0, 3.49) takes the mound in Sunday’s game at noon.