May 15, 2007

Box Score

Washington, D.C. - The Georgetown University baseball team (20-32) broke out to a 6-0 lead over UMBC (12-37) on Tuesday night at The Baseball Factory Field in Baltimore, Md., only to hold off a feverish Retriever comeback and come away with a 6-5 win. Seniors Brandon Davis (Poway, Calif./The Bishop's School) and Mark McLaughlin (Walnut Creek, Calif./De La Salle), along with junior Matthew Bouchard (East Greenwich, R.I./Bishop Hendricken) all collected three hits for the Hoyas.

Georgetown's biggest offensive output of the evening came in the third inning when they took a 3-0 lead. McLaughlin was plunked to start the frame and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Senior Derek deGrijs (Nashville, Tenn./Goodpasture) would then beat out an infield single to first and on an error by UMBC first baseman Steve Gale moved up to second while McLaughlin scored the team's first run. deGrijs would then steal third before Davis smashed a two-run home run to give Georgetown an early advantage.

Freshman Alex Meyer (Pompton Plains, N.J./Don Bosco Prep) recorded his team-leading fifth win of the season, allowing three runs on seven hits over six innings while striking out six. Freshman Jack Bender (Cranford, N.J./Cranford) threw a perfect 1 2/3 innings in relief, striking out three of the five batters he faced. Junior Daniel Kennedy (West Orange, N.J./Regis) pitched the ninth to earn the save, his 10th of the season. The save gives Kennedy the Georgetown single-season saves record, breaking his own record of nine saves which he set last season for the Hoyas.

In the seventh, Georgetown would score what turned out to be the game-winning run, although no one knew it at the time. McLaughlin led-off with a double to center and then stole third. He would put Georgetown up 6-0 when he crossed home thanks to a RBI-groundout by Bouchard.

The Hoyas would add single runs in the two innings that followed to go ahead 5-0. In the fourth, freshman Tom Elliott (Blue Bell, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep) walked with two outs and then stole second. McLaughlin would then hit a run-scoring single to right. In the fifth, deGrijs led-off with a single to left and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Bouchard would then double down the line in left to tack another Hoya run on the scoreboard.

The Hoyas close the regular season with three games this weekend in Morgantown, W. Va. against BIG EAST foe West Virginia. The two teams will play Thursday and Friday night at 7 p.m. and then a single game on Saturday at 1 p.m.