Junior Catcher Andrew Cleary’s two-run homerun was the difference in Georgetown’s 3-1 victory over visiting Navy. The win takes the Hoyas to 11-2 at their home field in Bethesda, Md. (15-11 overall). Senior ace pitcher Kevin Field pitched a one-two-three first inning in his return from a shoulder inning. Eduardo Pena took over and spread out four hits over the next 6.1 innings while allowing no earned runs .
Georgetown struck-first by squeezing out a run in the bottom of the second inning. Cleary was hit by a pitch and moved to second after a single by Senior Michael Lombardi. Senior Left Fielder Ron Cano’s sacrifice bunt moved Cleary over to third base before a passed ball allowed Cleary to score the first run of the game.
In the fifth inning Navy’s Ryan McGinn and Matt Lukevics had back to back singles to break up the perfect game, and more importantly, put a runner in scoring position. Pena’s wild pitch allowed McGinn to travel the last 90 feet to knot the game at one.
Georgetown took the lead for good in the sixth inning however. Hoyas Junior Designated Hitter Billy Quinn reached first on a walk. Then, Cleary broke the deadlock. His Big East-leading fifth homerun sailed over the left field wall. His two-RBI bomb was also his second run scored in the game.
Navy would threaten in the eighth inning when they put two runners on base. Georgetown went to their closer, Junior Thomas Braun, to get the final five outs of the game. Braun’s first pitch resulted in an inning ending double play to squash any chance of a Midshipmen comeback. He recorded his third save of the year without allowing a runner to reach base.
Pena’s strong performance improved his record to 3-1, while Quinn had a hit, and continues to lead the team in hitting with a .364 batting average. His teammate, Lombardi also had a hit, and is not far behind with a .347 batting average.
The out of conference game comes after Georgetown took two of their three games in their opening Big East series against Seton Hall to take the top spot early on in the season. “We had two of three games that we pitched well and played good defense,” Head Coach Pete Wilk said.
The Hoyas won their Big East opener with a 3-2 win in extra innings. After dropping their second game 7-4, Georgetown made a statement with a 7-4 win their rubber match on Sunday.
First-year Erik Chandler got the win with a six-inning effort and Pena struck out three in two innings of work. Braun closed the game out for the wins. Chandler won his second game of the year to move to a .500 record. He gave up five hits and three runs while whiffing six Pirates. Seton Hall rightfielder Matt Cuttruff followed up his three for five five RBI performance by hitting two for four in in the series finale. His hitting display was capped of with a solo homerun.
However, the Hoya pitching staff only allowed two more runs, and a steady offensive flow from the Georgetown bats kept the Pirates at bay.
Junior Utility Infielder Parker Brooks started the scoring after being singled in by cleanup hitter, Cleary. Brooks moved to second with his first of two stolen bases in the game. He leads the team with four on the year.
Sophomore Third BasemanDanny Gronski was singled home during the fourth inning by Sophomre Center Fielder Timmy Jones after being walked, and stealing a base of his own. The Hoya deluge continued with Quinn singling in Sophomore First Baseman Drew Dargen who also walked. Quinn would wind up scoring on a Lombardi infield single. “Obviously it’s nice that Billy Quinn’s back,” Wilk said. Going into the bottom of the fourth down 2-1, the three-run inning saw the Hoyas take the lead for good.
Georgetown put the game away with a follow-up three run inning in the fifth. With the bases loaded, Quinn delivered again with a base clearing double down the third base line.
After going 14-33 overall last year, the Hoyas have already surpassed their win total and are halfway to matching the number of wins they had in Big East action last season. Georgetown returns to conference play this weekend with a series against St. John’s in Jamaica, Queens.
