The Georgetown University baseball team mounted a staggering comeback against the Dayton Flyers after a three-game sweep at the hands of Penn State and the University of Virginia, winning all three games against the Flyers last weekend. 

The Hoyas (14-11) secured a much-needed momentum shifter after pitching exceptionally well against the Flyers (5-18). Three games and 49 strikeouts later, Georgetown is believed to have the Big East record for the most strikeouts in a three-game series where each game ended in nine innings.

Both teams’ pitchers excelled early on in the first game. Graduate right-handed pitcher Cody Jensen was sensational, as was the rest of the pitching staff, leading Georgetown to notch 17 strikeouts for the first time since 2019.

The game remained scoreless for the first two innings until the top of the third. Dayton scored the first run of the game on an RBI single to left field. However, the bottom half of the fourth inning was a turning point for the Hoyas. 

Graduate infielder Austin Kretzschmar and sophomore catcher Owen Carapellotti helped Georgetown gain its offensive footing as they both got on base. Graduate first baseman/outfielder Ubaldo Lopez then hit a home run bomb to left field, giving the Hoyas their first lead of the day at 3-2.

The rally continued when first-year outfielder/catcher Luke Bauer hit a long double to right center field, driving in junior first baseman Christian Ficca and graduate utility player Marco Castillo, who were perched respectively on third and first. Dayton did not relent, though. The Flyers added a run in the top of the fifth to bring the score to 5-3, and Georgetown was unable to add any runs in the bottom of the inning.

Although Dayton struggled to create scoring opportunities during the top of the seventh inning, Castillo delivered an RBI double to center field in the latter half of the inning, allowing Ficca to score and granting Georgetown a 7-4 advantage. 

The Hoyas’ impressive pitching never slackened, propelling Georgetown to victory in the final two innings. The team prevented any runs or hits in both the eighth and ninth innings, finishing with a score of 7-4.

It seemed as if the pitching team was not finished with breaking records during the second game.

The Hoyas surpassed the school record of 18 strikeouts with 19 strikeouts in a single game. Left-handed sophomore Andrew Williams had a career high of 12 strikeouts as the starting pitcher. 

Georgetown looked to be in danger when Dayton hit 2 home runs within minutes of each other in the second inning. But, just when it looked like the Flyers were running away with the game, the Hoyas’ offense responded back in the fifth and seventh inning. 

Lopez put the second game away when, with two runners on base, he drove the ball to left field and gave Georgetown its first 2 runs on the leaderboard for the day. Georgetown earned the final run in the seventh inning with the help of Kretzchmar and Lopez. 

Georgetown had high hopes of continuing its momentum and stealing the series from Dayton entering the third game. Similar to games past, the first two innings remained scoreless as both pitchers worked hard to not let up their footings. 

The Hoyas gained traction in the third inning after Carapellotti and junior utility player Michael Eze took a walk to second and first, respectively. Lopez hit yet another home run, quickly building a 3-0 for Georgetown. The Hoyas quickly built a 3-0 lead in the third inning with Lopez hitting another home run, but the Flyers were quick to respond in the fourth inning to even the score to 3-3. 

Dayton’s momentum picked up in the sixth inning when it notched another RBI, bringing the score to 4-3. 

Georgetown, however, seized the game in the seventh inning. With two bases loaded, junior outfielder/first baseman Jake Hyde stepped up and hit a rocket outside the field fences, racking in 3 more runs for the Hoyas. The final score was 6-4, closing out on the sweep. 

The Hoyas could not maintain this winning momentum, as they fell to the University of Maryland (15-9) and Mount St. Mary’s (11-12, 0-3 MAAC) March 28 and 29, respectively. Georgetown will look to bounce back to victory as it begins Big East play against a struggling Villanova Wildcats team (4-19) in a three-game match-up March 31 to April 2.