Georgetown’s baseball team dropped the rubber match of a three-game set against Big East foe St. John’s this weekend. The Jonnies reversed a 4-1 defeat Saturday night to win 5-1. The Hoyas dropped to .500 in conference play (3-3) and 17-13 overall this season.
The third and final game played at The Ballpark in Jamaica Queens saw visiting Georgetown struggle to mount any sort of offensive effort. Red Storm pitcher, Anthony Valvaro, held the Hoyas to one run and one hit over six innings of work. The Jonnies relief staff limited the Hoyas to one hit over the last three innings to hold on for the win.
The lone Georgetown score was a manufactured run from sophomore Danny Gronski. He reached base after being hit by the Red Storms’ Robert Delaney in the seventh inning. Junior Parker Brooks advanced the runner to second on a bunt. Two batters later, junior Billy Quinn singled in Gronski to get within four. That would be as close as the Hoyas would come. Delaney rebounded in his next inning by striking out the side. Reliever Craig Hansen took the mound with one out replacing Hansen. He forced Brooks into a game ending double play.
St. John’s got its runs early when Eddie Shultz’s double scored Chris Joachim who got to first base on a walk. Eric Grabowski’s two-RBI single up the middle into center field scored Shultz and Anthony Derosa, who singled earlier. Leading 3-0, the Red Storm cruised behind Valvaro the rest of the way to improve to 11-9 on the year and 2-1 in Big East action.
The Hoyas only win came in the nightcap of a Saturday doubleheader. After getting pounded 9-2 to drop the opener, the Hoyas came back strong behind a solid seven-inning effort by first-year Erick Chandler. Despite allowing seven hits and two walks the starter gave up a single run, and struck out four. First-year Mark Dutmers and junior Thomas Braun combined to finish off St. John’s in the last two innings.
The Hoyas began strong with a three run second in which sophomore Matthew Johnson squeezed in a run on a bunt. Sophomore Timmy Jones scored on Senior Ron Cano’s single, and Johnson later scored when Brooks reached base on a fielder’s choice. Junior Andrew Cleary, who was the runner that scored on Johnson’s bunt, capped off the scoring with a solo Home Run to lead of the next inning.
Georgetown continued its road schedule with a March 31 matinee game against the University of Maryland Baltimore County. After knocking off the Retrievers 7-0 earlier in the season at home, the Hoyas gave up 14 hits and two costly errors in a 10-7 loss. UMBC scored a run in each of the 4-8 inning to take control of a game that appeared to be a hard fought revenge contest. Unfortunately for Georgetown, their nine hits were less consistent than the Retrievers’ consistent offense, and they were left behind as a result.
The Hoyas return to action this weekend, when they travel to Final Four-crazy UConn for a three-game series beginning Saturday at noon.
