Pirates Shiver the Hoyas’ Timbers

Ruthie Braunstein/The Hoya The Hoyas have stumbled against the last two Big East opponents, dropping six games to Rutgers and Seton Hall.

After battling Rutgers last weekend and proving that it can compete in the Big East, the Georgetown baseball team again threw into question whether it has the ability to clash with the conference titans, dropping three to Seton Hall over the weekend by an average per game margin of 9.3 runs.

The Hoyas (9-25, 3-10 Big East) lost 6-1 in the first game of Saturday’s double-header and fell 15-4 in both Saturday’s second game and Sunday’s series clincher.

The Pirates (17-14, 8-5 Big East), tied for third in the Big East with Rutgers, St. John’s and Virginia Tech, outscored the Hoyas by 29 runs, the most lopsided three-game series defeat for Georgetown since Boston College outscored the Hoyas 48-10 last season.

Seton Hall also outhit Georgetown 38-18.

Yet, with all the apparent gloom on the Hoyas’ trip to South Orange, N.J., senior Matt Arizin’s pitching remained a bright spot.

The left-hander hurled 5 2/3 innings in the series opener and continued to do what he has done more regularly than any other Hoya pitcher – keep his team close for the full seven innings. Arizin most often pitches in the opening game of a series, which in Big East play is by rule only seven innings long.

Arizin (2-4) recorded 10 of his 14 outs on ground balls, for the most part keeping the Pirate hitters from getting good wood on the ball. He walked and struck out two and gave up five runs, four earned, on five hits, only three in first five innings.

But two of those hits proved detrimental, as senior Pirate designated hitter Shawn Tarkington launched a pair of solo home runs to center field for each of Seton Hall’s first two runs. His two-out blast in the second was the Pirates’ first hit, while his lead off shot in the fifth was just the Pirates’ third to that point.

Arizin gave up a walk and single in the third, but the pirates stranded the runners.

The Hoyas closed to within 2-1 in the top of the sixth when sophomore left fielder Jason Boice scored on the back end of a double steal. He had walked to open the inning and stole home when senior center fielder Jim Vankoski, who had singled, broke for second.

In the bottom of the inning, however, Seton Hall put the game out of reach, touching Arizin for two runs on two hits prior to his yielding to junior Paul Perillo, who gave up two more runs before recording the final out.

Sophomore Pirate right-hander Chris Reilly gave up just three hits and one run in 5 2/3 innings to raise his record to 3-1. Reilly struck out seven and walked two, limiting the Hoyas’ offense to three singles. Junior left-hander Isaac Pavlik pitched the final 1 1/3 innings to record his third save.

The Georgetown pitchers fared much worse in Saturday’s second game than did Arizin in the first. Seton Hall clobbered the freshman quartet of Kevin Field, Tom O’Connor, Tim Nunziata and Kevin Galvin for 17 hits and 15 runs, 11 of which were earned.

Field (1-4) started and lasted 3 1/3 innings, retiring only 10 of the 22 batters he faced.

After four innings the Pirates had a 9-0 lead and never looked back.

Pirates’ junior center fielder Mike Bascom came home on a two-out error in the third to increase the lead 3-0. Seton Hall broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth, scoring six runs on six hits. Senior right fielder Joe Cuervo plated the first two runs with a single to left-center, while Bascom, senior first baseman Brian Leighton, designated hitter Kevin Leighton and junior second baseman Josh Schuck all had RBI singles, as the Pirates sent 11 batters to the plate in the inning.

Georgetown bounced back with three runs in the top of the fifth. The Hoyas loaded the bases with one out on walks to freshman catcher Michael Lombardi and senior shortstop Brian Cassese and a single by sophomore second baseman Tony Lee. A two-run single up the middle by Boice chased Seton Hall sophomore starter Brett Hoffmann. Rightfielder Jim Vankoski added a sacrifice fly, but the Hoyas could not push any more across.

Hoyas’ freshman center fielder Carlos Gazitua went three for four in only his second start since March 10 due to a shoulder injury. Gazitua leads the team with 19 RBI and a .353 (18 for 51) batting average.

On Sunday, Gazitua continued his offensive production with a hit and three RBI, but as a team the Hoyas collected only four hits on the day.

Tarkington threw six innings of one-hit ball for the victory.

Hoyas’ Head Coach Peter Wilk could not be reached for comment.

The Hoyas look to recover from the Pirates’ plundering when they travel cross-town to face George Washington today at 3 p.m. Georgetown lost a pair to the Colonials 9-6 and 10-2 on March 27.