The Georgetown men’s baseball team (17-14 overall, 2-3 BE) overcame one of their most devastating losses of the season on Tuesday and took out all their frustration in a 16-2 shellacking of Coppin State.
“We bounced back well today and pounded Coppin State,” head coach Pete Wilk said. “I was proud of the way we bounced back and the way our bats came alive.”
The game against Coppin State was never in doubt. Georgetown scored three runs early and never gave up the lead, bashing out 16 runs, including eight in the ninth, on 16 hits.
Senior lefty Michael Halloran finished with a game-high four strikeouts in five innings of work and improved to 4-1 on the season. Junior infielder Matt Johnson led the offensive onslaught, going 4-for-6 with four RBIs and three runs scored.
“I’m hopeful that we can keep hitting well as we face a tough St. John’s pitching staff over the weekend,” Wilk said.
The feel-good game was just what the team needed after the Hoyas dropped a heartbreaking, 13-inning marathon to Big East foe Villanova on Monday. The Hoyas earned a split in the first two games of the series, including a 4-0 shutout in game two from first-year left-hander Michael Gaggioli, who gave up only three hits in eight innings. The rubber match of the three-game set saw a back-and-forth battle befitting the weekend’s dramatics.
The Hoyas got on the board early, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first. After a leadoff walk by senior infielder Parker Brooks and a solid single by sophomore outfielder Mark McLaughlin, senior outfielder Billy Quinn singled home Brooks for the first RBI of the game ,and McLaughlin scored soon after on an error by Villanova’s senior catcher Kelly Pickel.
Villanova got one run back in the second on a wild pitch by senior starter Eddie Pena and eventually tied up the score at two in the fifth as Pena’s lack of accuracy led to another Wildcat run. Junior outfielder Kris Molloy led off the inning when he was hit by a pitch, then advanced to second on a passed ball, moved to third on a wild pitch, and eventually scored on a lazy sacrifice fly off the bat of junior infielder Angelo Petracca.
After Georgetown took a one-run lead in the bottom of the sixth and the Wildcats tied it up again in the eighth, the game remained knotted at three until the 13th inning. Facing senior right-hander Tom Braun, Villanova was able to effectively play small-ball and muster a run on one hit. Petracca was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a groundout, advanced to third on a flyout to left and eventually crossed the plate on a weak single by first-year shortstop Derek Shunk.
The Hoyas went down in order in their half of the 13th, leaving a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.
“Monday was one of the toughest losses I’ve had here in six years [at Georgetown],” Wilk said. “We played our butts off, but couldn’t put it away. They got a bad-hop single in the 13th to win it, otherwise we might still be playing.”
Georgetown looks to stay hot this Saturday with a doubleheader against St. John’s. The first game starts 12:00 p.m.
