The Georgetown men’s baseball team opened the 2006 season this past weekend, facing the Tribe of William & Mary in Williamsburg. It was a game of offensive highlights for both teams, but the Hoyas came out on the short end of the offensive rout. The Hoyas’ pitching staff shot itself in the foot, surrendering 16 walks in nine innings.
After a scoreless first inning, the Hoyas were on the board in the second as catcher Brandon Davis drove in third baseman Joe Graziano on a groundout. Leadoff hitter and outfielder Mark McLaughlin then singled home designated hitter Matt Harrigan and second baseman Matt Bouchard to take a 3-0 lead.
“I have to give credit to Harrigan and Bouchard at the bottom [of the lineup] who got on base for me,” McLaughlin said. “I saw a lot more fastballs with them on base.”
Unfortunately for Georgetown, it was the Tribe’s turn to step to the plate. After getting out of a first inning jam, Hoyas starting pitcher Michael Gaggioli gave up four straight hits to start the bottom half of the second and was tagged for seven runs, before being relieved after one and one third innings. Righty Grady McConnell finished out the second inning before Saturday’s rain postponed the duration of the game until the next day.
Resuming on Sunday afternoon, the Hoyas were able to score two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth, but the bullpen was unable to support the rally. Four relievers ceded fifteen runs to William and Mary, including five each in the fifth and sixth.
The Hoyas brought home four more runs in the final three frames, including a 2-run double by Davis, but it was too little too late.
Despite the loss, the Hoyas had solid performances from several players. Of the eight pitchers Georgetown used, freshmen righty Darren Sizemore and southpaw Andy Ferich threw scoreless eighth and ninth innings, respectively, striking out two each. Offensively, McLaughlin finished 3-4 with 4 RBI and a stolen base, and outfielder Timmy Jones and Harrigan chipped in with two hits each.
“Getting a ton of runs is obviously a positive,” McLaughlin said. “If you’re going to pull a positive from a game, as a team we can build on that for this weekend against Davidson. We had a lot of good at-bats and had good contact on the ball.”
For William and Mary, third baseman Greg Sexton drove in six runs with four hits, and Pat Kantakevich got the win in relief, improving to 1-0. Sean Grieve and Ben Guez had three hits each as well.
Despite the loss, the Hoyas could take solace in generating a solid offense. They look to bounce back in a three-game set at Davidson this weekend.
“Davidson is a good team. We beat them two out of three last year so we can expect that they’ll be coming for us,” McLaughlin said. “They’re not a team that will roll over.”
