On Wednesday, the Georgetown Hoyas baseball team (15-23, 2-4 Big East) hosted the La Salle Explorers (14-26, 4-8 Atlantic-10) in a non-conference game at Shirley Povich Field. The Hoyas jumped out to a commanding 8-0 lead in the first inning, and despite a La Salle rally that fell just short, took the 8-5 victory to win their eighth game in their last 11.
Freshman right-hander Owen Lamon, making his eighth start of the year, pitched around 11 hits to complete five innings. Lamon gave up five runs (four earned) and struck out four Explorers. After Lamon exited the contest, the Georgetown relief arms were outstanding. Freshman right-hander Beau Dana immediately followed Lamon in the sixth and walked two batters before getting a quick hook. Thankfully, senior right-hander Matt Randolph came in and cleaned up the jam that Dana created. After senior third baseman Tommy Toal layed down a sacrifice bunt to move runners to second and third, Randolph got a strikeout and a groundout to short to escape the jam. Randolph then threw a scoreless seventh before getting pulled for sophomore right-hander Nick Morreale, who threw a scoreless eighth with two punchouts. Senior right-hander Jimmy Swad fired a scoreless ninth to shut the door on the Explorers and pick up his team-leading seventh save. The standout batter on the day for La Salle was senior shortstop Austin Constantini, who finished the day 3-4 with an RBI double in the third.
For the Explorers, freshman right-hander Alexarmando Diaz got the ball, and did not last long. The Hoyas jumped all over Diaz and knocked him out of the game before he could finish an inning. The first inning outburst was highlighted by RBI singles from senior first baseman Alex Bernauer, junior third baseman Ryan Weisenberg, and sophomore center fielder Ryan M. Davis. The Hoyas were also aided by a wild pitch and an error by La Salle freshman left fielder Jack Cucinotta, each of which allowed a run to score. The Georgetown bats were kept quiet for the rest of the game by the La Salle relievers, but their eight-run first was enough to nab the victory.
Lamon improved to 2-3 with the victory, while Diaz dropped to 0-1. The MVP of the game for the Georgetown was easily Davis, who finished up 5-5 on the day with two RBIs. Davis also had a double and a stolen base.
Next, head coach Pete Wilk and his Hoyas will travel to Omaha, Nebraska for a weekend series with the Creighton Bluejays (24-11, 3-5 Big East). The two teams will play three games at Creighton’s Ameritrade Park in Omaha. First pitch of game one is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday. Follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter for updates and breaking news.
