Over the weekend, the Georgetown baseball team (1-2, Big East) traveled to North Carolina to face Navy (2-1, Patriot League) in the first series of the season for both teams. The Hoyas’ offense erupted in the first game, only to struggle in the second and third games of the series. After a 16-6 win in game one, Georgetown fell Saturday and Sunday, 6-2 and 6-3, respectively, dropping the series to Navy.
On Friday afternoon, the Hoyas started off their season with a high scoring game, cruising past Navy 16-6. Georgetown opened up the scoring in the bottom of the first when a grounder to the right side of the infield by senior outfielder AJ Lotsis scored senior John Simourian. Simourian started the day as the Hoyas’ designated hitter, and scored from third after he reached on a single and advanced on a walk and a hit. The next batter, senior first baseman Freddy Achecar III, homered over the right field fence to bring in three runs and increase the Hoyas’ lead to four. In the top of the third, Navy sophomore first baseman Zach Stevens hit a solo home run to put the Midshipmen on the board. In the bottom of the inning, the Hoyas came back with three more on a three-run home run by Lotsis. Navy responded with two in the top of the fourth after a ground out and a wild pitch scored sophomore outfielder Matt Wolff and senior third baseman Jacob Williamson. The next inning, Navy closed their deficit to just three after Stevens went deep for the second time in the game. After five, Georgetown led 7-4. Then, in the bottom of the sixth, the Hoyas broke the game wide open with seven runs. To start the scoring in the seventh, a three-run home run by junior catcher Ryan P. Davis brought in three runs. On a single to right, Lotsis picked up RBI number five on the day when Simourian scored. A groundout by Achecar III brought in one more and a double by sophomore shortstop Alex Rosen knocked in two. Navy pushed back with two in the top of the seventh on a single by Wolff. However, this lead was too great for Navy to touch and the Hoyas ran with the game from here, adding a run in the seventh on a single by junior outfielder Kai Nelson, who went 3-4 on the day with one RBI. To cap off the scoring for the day, Georgetown tacked on one more in the bottom of the eighth when Davis singled with the bases loaded to bring in Achecar III. Navy’s starting pitcher, junior Jared Jeins, received the loss, and he was followed by six Navy relievers, none of whom lasted more than an inning. Georgetown sophomore Carter Bosch went four and two-thirds innings for the win in a game that was dominated by the Hoyas’ offense.
On Saturday, the Hoyas’ offense struggled to repeat the prior day’s performance, scoring only two runs in a 6-2 loss to Navy. Even with a lack of offense, the Hoyas squad looked strong until the Midshipmen scored five runs over the final two innings of the game to gain the lead and the win. Navy scored one run early on a wild pitch by Hoyas’ starter sophomore Anthony Redfern, who would go five innings and allow just that one unearned run. In the next frame, Georgetown came back with two runs to gain a lead on a two-run home run by Lotsis, who continued his offensive success from Friday, going 1-4 with two RBIs. In the sixth, after five strong innings by Redfern, Hoya sophomore Michael Willis made his debut on the mound, where he stayed for three innings, giving up five runs and picking up the loss. For the Midshipmen, junior starter Charlie Connolly went six and a third giving up two runs and earning a no decision. In the bottom of the seventh, Navy pulled ahead, scoring three runs on a home run by sophomore catcher Christian Policelli, his first of the year and the second of his college career. This was a lead Navy did not relinquish for the rest of the game. In the eighth, Navy added two more to make it 6-2 after a single by junior Stephen Thompson, who was pinch-hitting for starting designated hitter freshman Keil Brenczewski, scored Wolff from second. Freshman Cole Reibenspies came in to pinch run for Brenczewski who had reached second on a fielding error. After a ground out advanced him to third, Reibenspies scored on a single by Biggers through the left side gap. Navy junior right-hander Trey Braithwaite held the Hoyas to zero runs on just one hit over two and two-thirds innings of relief, earning the win.
With the series tied 1-1, both teams entered Sunday afternoon looking to win the series and start the season off strong. Navy’s four-run sixth gave them the lead, and they held on after a late pushback from the Hoyas in the bottom of the eighth that cut the lead to just three. With the win on Sunday afternoon, Navy took the series 2-1. To start off, in the third inning, starting Navy third baseman Williamson scored for Navy on a throwing error by his third base counterpart, Hoya junior Eddie McCabe. Georgetown tied the game in the bottom of the fifth with a home run by Lotsis, the third of the season for the senior, who has now hit a homer in each of the first three games. Navy quickly bounced back with four of their own in the sixth on a grand slam by Williamson. After the homer, Georgetown sophomore Chase Walter exited after giving up four runs and recording one out. Biggers homered in the top of the seventh to bring the score to 6-1 Navy. With the innings passing by, Georgetown pushed back in the eighth with two runs on a single by Achecar III for RBI number five and six on the year. Now with just a three-run lead, Navy sophomore reliever Colin Jones came in with no outs in the eighth and proceeded to shut down the Hoyas, striking out the first three batters he faced in the eighth and quickly working through a 1-2-3 ninth to earn the save.
Moving forward, the offense needs to continue its production from game one of the season, and hopefully the pitching staff will hold opponents to fewer than six runs, as Navy scored six in each game of the series. The Hoyas face off against George Washington (1-1, Atlantic-10) away at 2:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday. After the mid-week game, they will return to North Carolina for a three-game series over the weekend vs currently undefeated Davidson (3-0, Atlantic 10) in Davidson, NC. For continuing coverage of all Georgetown sports, follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter.
