The Georgetown baseball team left a cold and rainy Shipley Field at the University of Maryland on Tuesday with a feeling that had been lost since March 19: the thrill of victory. The Hoyas (7-20, 1-11 Big East) ended an eleven-game slide with an impressive 8-4 victory over the Terrapins behind the stellar pitching performance of senior Pat Salvitti and sophomore catcher Andrew Cleary’s power hitting display.
Salvitti, making his first start of the season, scattered seven hits over a complete nine innings. The right-hander was never over-powering, but kept command the entire way, keeping the Terrapins’ batters at bay with breaking pitches that always seemed to hit their spots.
“Pat’s been throwing real well the past couple of weeks, and he’s been working his butt off,” said Head Coach Pete Wilk. “He deserved this.”
The Hoyas got on the board first in the top of the second. Following back-to-back singles from sophomore third baseman Jim Supple and first-year center fielder Timmy Jones that put runners at first and third, a passed ball allowed Supple to score the first run of the game. Junior shortstop Ron Cano singled to advance Jones to third before senior second baseman Matt Carullo’s sacrifice fly to left field allowed Jones to score. Junior Michael Lombardi, batting as the designated hitter, doubled off the right field wall to bring Cano around for a 3-0 Hoya lead.
With three runs to work with, Salvitti went into cruise control, allowing just one hit through the first four innings. On several occasions, he was bailed out on hard-hit balls by stellar defense, particularly from Carullo, who made several diving stops in the hole including one that ended with him on his knees on the outfield grass, flipping the ball underhand to first-year first baseman Ryan Craft.
“The defense was outstanding because Pat’s tempo was great. It was just pitch after pitch; they weren’t out there for months,” said Wilk. “When our defense is out there for a while, everyone sort of gets back on their heels, but with the tempo he set, it’s easy to play defense behind him.”
The Hoyas’ offense struck again in the fifth when Cleary led off the inning with a double into left field following a hard-fought at bat. Sophomore right fielder Billy Quinn brought Cleary home with a single to extend the Hoyas lead to 4-0.
In the bottom half of the fifth, Salvitti hit his first spot of trouble on the day. After walking the lead-off batter, Salvitti allowed back-to-back singles to load the bases with only one out. Again, the defense would bail Salvitti out as Carullo snagged a screamer up the middle for the second out. First-year third baseman Mike Costantino singled for the Terps to get them on the board, but Salvitti induced a ground ball from junior first baseman Anthony Buffone to end the inning.
The Hoyas came right back in the seventh looking to extend their lead. Lombardi reached on an error to start the inning. Batting next, Cleary, sensing the Hoyas needed more than a three-run advantage, got a hold of a fastball and sent it straight over the left-field fence for his eighth home run of the year.
“Cleary came up huge for us today,” said Wilk.
“Twice.”
Cleary’s second moment of the day came in the eighth inning. Following a Jones single and consecutive walks to Carullo and Lombardi, Cleary delivered a two-run single to put the Hoyas ahead 8-1. He finished the day 4-for-5 with 4 RBI.
“He’s been doing a good job for us all year. He’s a big RBI guy,” said Wilk.
The Terps put up three runs in the bottom of the eighth, but it was too little too late, as Salvitti would record two of his eight strikeouts in the bottom of the ninth to seal the victory.
The most telling stat of the day was Salvitti’s handling of Maryland’s three, four, and five hitters, which included sophomore outfielder Justin Maxwell, who had four home runs in the Terps’ five previous wins. Salvitti shut them down, holding the meat of Maryland’s lineup to 1-for-13 with six strikeouts.
“We knew [Maxwell] was a good fastball hitter, so we went at him mostly with sliders and splitters, and he struggled,” said Wilk.
The Hoyas will take the field again this weekend at Shirley Povich field on April 12 for a Saturday afternoon doubleheader. Following the doubleheader, Georgetown’s Diamond Club will be hosting a potluck picnic, scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m.
