Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

BASEBALL | Hoyas Take Two of Three in North Carolina

Last weekend, the Hoyas commenced their 2011 season with a two-game set against the Davidson Wildcats and a Sunday matchup against Army. Splitting the pair with Davidson and cleanly defeating Army, Georgetown left North Carolina 2-1.

Coming into the weekend, the biggest unknown for the Blue and Gray was the durability and consistency of their pitching staff. But after sitting out last season with an injury, redshirt senior Alex Meyer put at least a temporary muzzle on the staff’s skeptics.

In the team’s first game against Davidson, Meyer threw five innings, giving up only one unearned run en route to his first win of the year.

Offensively, the top third of the Hoya lineup got off to a hot start. Sophomore centerfielder Justin Leeson capitalized on his new starting role early, singling in his first at bat and eventually scoring the first run of the game. Leeson finished 3-4 with three runs. Hitting behind Leeson, junior Rand Ravnaas could do no wrong, going 4-4 with two RBI’s and two runs. Playing in his first game as a Hoya, sophomore transfer Mike Garza went 2-5 with two RBI from the three-hole. Senior third baseman Sean Lamont and sophomore Corbin Blakey also added two hits each.

After leading 7-1 after six innings, Georgetown’s bullpen wavered slightly. In the bottom of the seventh, Davidson tacked on four runs, closing the deficit to two. But senior Pablo Vinent and sophomore Neal Dennison threw a combined three scoreless innings to close out the game and guarantee the Hoyas their first win of the year, 9-5.

In the second game against Davidson, the offense that had been so potent in the first game was dormant, much to the dismay of junior pitcher Will Harris.

Harris threw six outstanding innings, giving up an unearned run on five hits and striking out four Wildcats. The Georgetown line up, however, which mustered six hits on the day, did not respond until the top of the sixth when senior Erick Fernandez knocked in Lamont with a triple.

The bullpen was again shaky for the Hoyas, as sophomore Thomas Polus walked two batters, forcing Head Coach Pete Wilk to try his hand with graduate student Mike Seander. Seander struck out two and stopped the bleeding, but not before a sac fly scored the go ahead run. Davidson closed out the game and won 2-1, tarnishing Harris’s impeccable outing.

Despite the loss, Coach Wilk was proud of his starting pitcher.

“Harris threw his best college outing, period. He was exceptional, and we should have gotten him a win,” Wilk said.

But Georgetown was able to end its weekend with a win over Army on Sunday. Pitching with the flu, junior Bobby Kirby pitched two innings, giving up two runs, one earned. Coming in for what would obviously be an extended outing, redshirt junior and captain Tommy Isaacs came in and dominated.

Isaacs shutout Army for four innings but ran into some issues in the top of the seventh. Up 3-2, Isaacs allowed two earned runs, leaving Army on top, 4-3. His final line was 4.2 innings, two earned runs and two strikeouts.

Determined to come away with the win, the Hoyas rallied in the bottom of the eighth. Lamont led off the inning with a double and was knocked in on another double by redshirt senior firstbaseman Dan Capeless. Stepping up in the clutch, the left fielder Blakey singled up the middle with the bases loaded, scoring Capeless and Fernandez. Georgetown scored another run off an Army error and finished the offensive outburst up 7-4. Vinent and Dennison again combined for 2.1 shutout innings pitched, with Vinent earning the win.

The Hoya lineup was productive from top to bottom, finishing with 11 hits.

Despite their overall winning record, the Hoyas had trouble on defense all weekend. Over the three games, the Hoyas committed seven errors. Wilk attributed some of them to poor defense but said a lack of practice on real clay and grass lead to a lot of the mistakes.

“We have not been able to practice outdoors with the exception of twice. We can take all the ground balls we want on MultiSport [Facility], but it’s different than grass.”

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