BASEBALL SJU Takes GU By Storm Hoyas Have No Luck In Double-Header By John-Paul Hezel Hoya Staff Writer

Ruthie Braunstein/The Hoya The Georgetown baseball team has now lost 14 games in a row. They look to end that streak today at 3 p.m. against George Washington.

JAMAICA, N.Y., April 12 – Between games of the rain-filled double header, it was obvious to the handful of fans at the St. John’s University ballpark which team won and which team lost the opener. With showers delaying the start of the second game for more than two hours, the Red Storm players frolicked in the dugout, exuberantly pulled the tarp on and off the field and cheered when a break in the rain signaled the beginning of the nightcap.

The Georgetown players, meanwhile, played pepper on the grass beyond third base, threw baseballs from the bench to the top step of the dugout and watched those same baseballs monotonously roll back down. There was no frolicking, no exuberance, no cheering on the part of the Hoyas.

But you could not really blame them.

Georgetown had just wasted another stellar pitching performance by Kevin Field, blowing a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth and eventually losing to St. John’s in the 10th, 5-4. The Hoyas had no better luck in the second game, falling 9-5. It was their 12th straight loss and 32nd overall against seven wins. They are now 2-12 in the Big East, and have lost 10 one-run games this season. Frustration is clearly setting in.

“If you’re not frustrated at this point, you don’t have your eyes open and you don’t have a pulse,” Head Coach Peter Wilk said. “But being frustrated and giving up are two different things, and in my estimation, they haven’t thrown in the towel. They’d better not.”

Field, the sophomore right-hander who was named Co-Big East Pitcher of the Week Honors for his no-hitter loss to Rutgers last Saturday, was in line for the victory in the first game when Georgetown broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the ninth. Freshman third baseman Bill Quinn and junior Robert O’Hare walked to start the rally, and junior pinch hitter Tony Lee followed with a sacrifice bunt that moved Quinn to third and senior Jon Blodgett, who ran for the O’Hare, to second. Senior designated hitter ike Green then hit a sacrifice fly to deep center field that plated Quinn, and Blodgett scored on a wild pitch one batter later. The Hoyas seemed to have finally given Field – and themselves – a much needed break.

Field departed after 124 pitches over eight innings in which he allowed two runs on five hits. He struck out five and walked three. He has allowed only two earned runs over the past 15 innings, an ERA of 1.20. Wilk didn’t want to pull his starter, but felt that the youngster had thrown enough.

“That’s my limit [around 124 pitches],” Wilk said. “It’s where I start to get wary [of injury], unless he’s a senior, and he feels good, and he’s not going to play professionally.”

Wilk’s decision backfired as both he and Field could only watch from the bench as the Georgetown bullpen self-destructed in the bottom of the ninth. Junior Patrick Salvitti punched out the first batter on a high fastball, but then allowed a walk, a single and two-run double as St. John’s sent the game, originally scheduled for seven innings, into the 10th.

The Hoyas went down quietly in order in the top half of the inning, and then Salvitti (0-2) continued his struggles. After striking out the first batter, he allowed a double and a single, and the game was over.

“The bullpen continues to take a gas can to the hill,” Wilk said.

The second game was tight throughout, as neither team had more than a one-run lead until the ninth. Georgetown went up 1-0 on a RBI-ground out by freshman infielder James Supple in the third, and the Red Storm took a 2-1 lead in the fourth. The Hoyas scored an unearned run in the sixth, and Field pitched three scoreless innings before being replaced.

“This is a game we should have won,” Wilk said.

Carlos Gazitua, who went 2-for-5 with a double and run scored in game one, broke out of a recent slump and continued to lead the Hoyas offense in game two. The sophomore center fielder collected three more hits, including a double, and scored two more runs in the loss.

Freshman starter Eddie Pena (0-3) pitched solidly over his 5 1/3 innings, scattering five hits and allowing four runs, three earned.

“I might have quick hooked him, but his pitches were getting up [in the strike zone] and they started to knock him around a bit,” Wilk said. “It was a pretty good outing.”

Pena kept the Hoyas within striking distance until the seventh when the relievers again allowed the game to slip away. Freshman left-hander Tyler Abbott walked three and gave up two runs in 2/3 of an inning and senior righty Tony Pina gave up three runs on two hits and two walks. Pina did not record an out. Freshman Patrick Harrigan was the only bright spot with two scoreless innings of relief work.

Georgetown cut a 4-0 deficit to 4-2 in the seventh, and scored three in the ninth, but by then the damage had been done.