May 12, 2007

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Washington, D.C. - The Georgetown University baseball team dropped the first game of a pivotal three-game series with Villanova this afternoon at Shirley Povich Field, 11-6. Despite key offensive contributions by their seniors, the Hoyas were unable to come away with a victory.

Georgetown was able to draw first blood when they tacked on two runs in the first off Villanova starter Mike Loree. With one out, senior Derek deGrijs (Nashville, Tenn./Goodpasture) doubled to left center and junior Matthew Bouchard (East Greenwich, R.I./Bishop Hendricken) followed with a deep single to short to put runners on the corners.

Senior Joseph Graziano would then lift a deep fly to center, and even though it was caught, it allowed deGrijs to come home and give Georgetown an early lead. After a single by junior Matt Harrigan (Syracuse, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy) kept the inning alive for senior Brandon Davis (Poway, Calif/The Bishop's School). Davis then smashed a double to left that scored Bouchard and put the Hoyas on top, 2-0.

After Villanova knocked Chandler out of the game in the third inning, Bouchard fired back on behalf of the Hoyas with his sixth home run of the season. His solo shot cut the deficit at the time to 6-3.

Georgetown still trailed 6-3 in the fourth when Davis led-ff with a single to left, one of his three hits on the day. Sophomore Kelly Muir (South Pasadena, Calif./Loyola) would follow with a double to center, and the Hoyas had something cooking. However, the next two batters were retired and it seemed as though GU would sqaunder the scoring opportunity. Suddenly, senior Mark McLaughlin (Walnut Creek, Calif./De La Salle) crushed a three-run blast to even the score at 6-6. McLaughlin's fourth homer of the season brought the Hoyas back from a four-run deficit.

Junior Erick Chandler (Somerset, N.J./Rutgers Prep) allowed six runs on eight hits in only two innings of work but received a no-decision. Instead, freshman Tim Adleman (Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield) suffered the loss and fell to 3-7 on the season. Adleman pitched the rest of the game in relief of Chandler and allowed five runs on five hits while striking out five over seven innings.

The second game was postponed due to rain in the seventh inning with the Wildcats leading, 5-2. The two teams will play the final three innings of that game tomorrow, starting at 1 p.m. The third game of the series will follow the conclusion of the second game.