Dan Gelfand/The Hoya Sophomore third baseman Danny Gronski makes a play at Shirley Povich Field. The Hoyas dropped both games to the Mountaineers at home on Sunday.
The Georgetown baseball team’s attempt for its first winning season in 16 years suffered a major blow over the weekend, as the Hoyas dropped three of four games against Big East opponents.
Georgetown split a doubleheader at Pittsburgh on Friday, losing the first game 6-5 but rebounding for a 2-1 win in the nightcap. The Hoyas returned home Sunday but were swept by West Virginia, 8-4 and 10-2.
“I thought we came out flat, and didn’t play the type of baseball we’ve been playing all year,” Head Coach Pete Wilk said. “There is no excuse for it. I was disgusted.”
With eight games remaining in the season, Georgetown (22-26, 6-14 Big East) would have to mount a 6-2 finish to break even.
“That’s why I was so disappointed Sunday, because we had a chance to climb back up to .500,” Wilk said. “Now we’ve got a little bit of an uphill climb.”
Georgetown was just one out away from winning the seven-inning opener against Pitt, but the Panthers hit back-to-back home runs in their last at-bat to claim a 6-5 victory.
Junior Eddie Pena had pitched well for the Hoyas, allowing just one unearned run on four hits through six innings. With his team leading 5-1, Pena walked the lead off batter in the bottom of the seventh. Pitt senior catcher Alex Rybczak’s single then cut the Georgetown lead to three.
After another single and a fielder’s choice, the Panthers had runners on first and third with two outs. Senior shortstop Bryan Spamer then tied the game with a three-run home run to left. The next batter, freshman second baseman Jim Negrych, hit a walk-off homer to give Pitt a dramatic, 6-5 win.
“We should have swept them,” Wilk said. “I take the majority of the blame for the loss. I stayed with Eddie when he was clearly on [empty].”
Georgetown opened up a big lead with five runs in the third inning. Senior catcher Mike Lombardi hit a bases-loaded double to center field, putting Georgetown ahead 3-0. Junior first baseman Jim Supple also came to bat with the bases full, and he singled to right to extend the Hoyas’ lead to 5-0.
Pittsburgh scored a run in the bottom of the inning, beginning its dramatic comeback.
The second game seemed to follow the same script as the opener. Georgetown picked up an early lead and got solid pitching, only to see the Panthers threaten. But this time the Hoyas held on for a 2-1 win.
Freshman Erick Chandler won his team-leading fifth game, allowing just one hit and three walks with seven strikeouts in six scoreless innings.
Georgetown got on the scoreboard in the third, when junior designated hitter Billy Quinn singled to score junior second baseman Parker Brooks. The Hoyas extended their lead to 2-0 in the fourth on an RBI double by senior left fielder Ron Cano.
The Panthers stayed relatively quiet until the bottom of the eighth. Sophomore Stephen Burns, who had relieved Chandler in the seventh, surrendered a home run to junior Mike Zambriczki to cut the lead in half.
Pittsburgh had the tying run at third and the winning run at first in the bottom of the ninth, but Braun bore down and got the final out to give Georgetown a 2-1 win, picking up his seventh save of the year.
The Hoyas returned home to face the last-place Mountaineers expecting to pick up a win, but their hopes were dashed as West Virginia scored 18 runs in two games to sweep the doubleheader.
West Virginia scored a run in the top of the first, but Georgetown quickly took the lead when Quinn hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning to put the Hoyas ahead, 2-1.
After the Mountaineers tied the game in the top of the third, Quinn again gave the Hoyas the lead with a solo home run in the bottom of the inning. It was his fifth home run and second multi-homer game in a week.
West Virginia stormed back, taking a 6-3 lead with a pair of two-run homers in the fourth. Burns, who started on the mound for Georgetown, could not finish the inning and gave way to junior ichael Halloran.
Brooks brought the Hoyas within two with his first home run of the year in the bottom of the inning, but the Mountaineers scored a pair of runs in the sixth and went on to win, 8-4.
Sunday’s nightcap stayed close for six innings, but West Virginia used six late runs to take a 10-2 victory.
Sophomore third baseman Danny Gronski gave Georgetown its first run with a sacrifice fly in the second inning. The Mountaineers went on to take a 4-1 lead, but the Hoyas got within two runs in the sixth with an RBI groundout by Supple.
West Virginia blew the game open, however, with three runs in the seventh inning and three more in the top of the ninth.
Sophomore Warren Sizemore suffered the loss for Georgetown, giving up five runs on eight hits in six innings. Lombardi contributed three hits for the Hoyas.
“I told the kids yesterday, we have a chance to do something that hasn’t been done here in a long time,” Wilk said. “Getting to .500 would be a tremendous step for the program. It’s almost immeasurable how important it is. I see it and the coaches see it, but I’m not sure I see the sense of urgency from my club.”
Next up for the Hoyas is a pair of non-conference home games. Georgetown squares off against George Mason at Shirley Povich Field tonight at 7 p.m. They will then play host to Mount St. ary’s on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
