In a four-hour game on Feb. 18, the Georgetown Hoyas baseball team (2-2, BIG EAST) managed to put away the George Mason Patriots (1-3, Atlantic 10) 15-14. The length of the game, combined with the 31 degree playing conditions, tested the Hoyas, as did the Patriots’ five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning.
The Hoyas came into this season with twenty-two players with BIG EAST Championship experience, after Head Coach Edwin Thompson led the team to their first ever three-consecutive thirty-win season. This season, the Hoyas hope to continue their winning streak and grab hold of the BIG EAST Championship title.
The game started promisingly with a six-run first inning against George Mason’s starting pitcher, lefty sophomore Ty Uchman. With five hits, one hit-by-pitch, and just one walk, the Hoyas batted around the lineup. Highlights of the top of the first include sophomore second baseman Tristan Head’s double into the right-center gap and freshman outfielder Dylan Larkins’s continued hot streak, with a single to center that dropped in front of the fielder. The third out came from George Mason’s first baseman Owen Hull’s diving play away from first base completed with the toss to the pitcher, Uchman, who slid into first base to put away senior catcher Owen Carapelloti.
Right-handed pitcher Derek Yoo debuted for the Hoyas on the mound—holding George Mason to zero runs in the inning despite a line drive into center that tore past Yoo’s ear off of George Mason’s Lucas Alberti’s bat. A high throw from Head at second to sophomore shortstop Blake Schaaf nearly derailed a double play, but Schaaf turned it for two outs. The Hoyas had a 1-2-3 inning polished off by sophomore center fielder Ashtin Gilio’s fly ball catch.
The Hoyas tacked on another run on the board in the second with some situational hitting from Head. Instead of trying to hit for the fences, which is a risky strategy, he put the ball to the left side of the infield to score junior third baseman Jeremy Sheffield from third. Yoo left the game in the bottom of the inning with a 7-0 lead after walking the leadoff batter.
Sheffield kept energy up with a bases clearing double into shallow center field with one out in the third inning. Head brought another run in with a single to right center, and graduate first baseman Noah Leib brought in fellow grad student, left fielder Kavi Caster, from third with a ground out. The Hoyas’ five runs were a nice buffer to the three the Patriots scored in the bottom of the inning to bring the total score up to 12-3.
A couple of George Mason walks and singles in the fourth inning earned them four runs from Hoya righty Jake Anderson, 12-7. Georgetown answered in the sixth with three more runs thanks to a pinch-hit bunt from junior outfielder Travis Ilitch, a Carapellotti sacrifice fly, a Gilio steal, and another Sheffield single, 15-7. While the Patriots scored one run in the sixth and another in the seventh, they knocked on victory’s door with five runs in the bottom of the ninth.
The Hoyas used three pitchers in an attempt to close out a game that had already seemed shut. Alberti led off with a single and scored off of a double from teammate James Quinn-Irons. Two hit-by-pitches and four walks hurt the Hoyas, especially the last one, when bases were full and it walked in a run. From 15-9, the Patriots fought back to 15-14. The bases were loaded with two outs when freshman pitcher Ethan Rucker made his collegiate debut. He fortunately capped the game and sealed Georgetown’s win with a strikeout.
Sheffield ended the day 2-for-5 with five RBIs and Head went 2-for-6 with two doubles and four RBIs. Gilio notched two hits in four at-bats, walked twice, stole twice, and scored three times. Head Coach Thompson said the team got a “little too comfortable” after the first three innings’ twelve run lead, but is “really proud” of the team for pulling off a win in difficult conditions. Hopefully the Hoyas continue heating up when they play their home opening series this weekend against Sacred Heart. For continued coverage and updates on Georgetown sports, follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter.
