This weekend, the Georgetown baseball team (0-6, Big East) was swept on the road by Campbell (5-2, Big South) in a three-game set. The rough series extended the Hoyas’ losing streak to six to start the year. Sophomore shortstop Eddie McCabe and junior first baseman Freddie Achecar III each hit their first home runs of 2019 on Friday.
On Friday, redshirt sophomore right-hander Logan Heintzman started on the bump for the Camels, and made quick work of the Hoyas in the first, striking out two. In the bottom half, Campbell jumped on junior right-hander Jeremiah Burke to take an early lead when junior outfielder Spencer Packard drove in a run on a single to left.
The Hoyas were able to tie the game in the top of the third due to some sloppy play by Campbell. Graduate student right fielder Kyle Ruedisili doubled to left field and was helped out by a fielding error by redshift junior left fielder Barefoot and then a throwing error by the shortstop on the relay, allowing Ruedisili to come all the way home on a Little League homer. The double was the first hit as a Hoya for Ruedisili, who previously played at Washington & Lee University.
In the top of the fourth, McCabe scored on an errant pick-off attempt, as the Hoyas took advantage of yet another Campbell error to claim a 2-1 lead. Meanwhile, Burke had seemed to find a rhythm, allowing just a walk in the second, third, and fourth innings. In the fifth, however, his solid start hit a snag. After allowing a lead-off infield single, Burke seemed to lose his control of the strike zone. He walked three straight batters, with a run-scoring after the third to tie up the game. With his last pitch of the day, Burke gave up a two-run single to Babin, giving the Camels a 4-2 lead that they would not surrender for the rest of the day.
Georgetown scratched back a run in the sixth with a solo shot to right by Achecar III but was unable to get anything else. The score remained 4-3 until the bottom of the seventh when the wheels came off for the Hoyas. Babin picked up another RBI on a run-scoring single, and senior third baseman Tyler Anshaw executed a successful squeeze play. With Babin attempting to steal third, freshman catcher Tony Barreca’s throw was wild, allowing Babin to score. McCabe’s homer in the eighth brought Georgetown to within 7-4, but that would be all, as junior right-hander Landry Moore slammed the door in the ninth to pick up his first save of the year. Burke took the loss to fall to 0-2 on the year, while Horrell earned the victory.
The second game was a 7-4 victory for Campbell once again. The Hoyas took an early lead off a solo shot by sophomore left fielder Kai Nelson in the second and a two-run dinger by Ruedisili in the third, but were not able to hold it for long. In the bottom half of the third, the Camels exploded for five runs against junior left-hander Brent Killam. An RBI single by Barefoot, a two-run single by senior shortstop Luis Gimenez, and a run-scoring grounder by Packard did most of the damage. Killam also issued a bases-loaded walk. The score remained 5-3 until the sixth when sophomore catcher Ryan P. Davis singled up the middle to score McCabe and bring the Hoyas within a run, but that was as close as they would get.
In the bottom half, Killam was pulled after walking a Camel, but he would come around to score anyways after junior first baseman Matthew Christian doubled off of senior right-hander Jack Cushing. The Camels tacked on another run in the seventh on a Gimenez RBI single, and redshirt junior right-hander Jonathan Tyler pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings to earn the save. Killam was tagged with his second loss of the year.
In the final game, Campbell completed the sweep by taking a decisive 9-5 victory. The Camels tagged junior right-hander Nick Morreale for two runs early when a passed ball allowed Barefoot to score in the first and Gimenez drove in a run on a single an inning later. The Hoyas rallied in the fourth, however. Ryan P. Davis drove home Achecar III with a single to right, and two batters later, Nelson scored when senior third baseman Ryan Weisenberg was plunked. Barreca broke the tie with a two-run single up the middle, chasing junior left-hander Kevin Westlake.
The game was tied just half an inning later, though, as Gimenez picked up yet another RBI on a single to left and later scored on a throwing error by Weisenberg. Campbell then took the lead in the fifth, when junior second baseman Collin Wolf, Morreale’s last batter, drove home a run on a single. Though only two of Morreale’s five allowed runs were earned, he struggled with command, issuing six walks. Georgetown was relentless, putting together a rally and tying the game in the sixth, but like clockwork, Campbell pulled away in the late innings. The Camels rallied for two runs each in the seventh and eighth innings, all off of sophomore left-hander Owen Lamon, who suffered the loss.
The Hoyas will try to snap this early-season skid on Wednesday when they visit cross-town rival George Washington (3-3, Atlantic-10). The Colonials are coming off a three-game sweep of Saint Peter’s (0-3, MAAC) this weekend. For continuing coverage of all Georgetown sports, follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter.
