The Georgetown University Baseball team picked up it's second consecutive win on Tuesday (3/20) and third in four games with a 12-7 victory over Long Island University in Bethesda, MD. Led by freshman Michael Lombardi's (Brookhaven, N.Y./St. Anthony's) three RBI's and relief pitcher Jim Vankoski's (Sr., Aston, Pa./Strath Haven) 2.2 scoreless innings pitched to close the game the Hoyas improved to 6-13 on the season. GU, after starting the season 0-7, is 6-6 in the month of March.
Long Island jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as the Blackbirds Nick Burzynski drove the opening pitch for a homerun. Georgetown responded in the latter half of the inning tying the game at 1-1 when Jason Boice (So., Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) scored on Jim Vankoski's sacrifice fly. LIU regained the lead scoring one in the top of the third and then extending their lead to 5-1 in the fourth including a homerun by Matt Early chasing Hoyas starter Eric Sutton (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Deerfield Beach) from the game. Sutton struck out two, walked two, and allowed five runs (3 ER) in 3.2 innings. GU climbed to within two runs as they scored two in the bottom of the fourth. Sophomore Robert O'Hare (San Jose, Calif./Mission College) led off with a single and scored on Ron Cano's (Fr., El Segundo, Calif./El Segundo) double with one out. Rightfielder Marc Carlini (Sr., Alexandria, Va./Episcopal) scored the second run on a sacrifice fly by Tony Lee (So., Bromall, Pa./Malvern Prep). Georgetown added three more runs in the fifth taking advantage of two hits, a sacrifice fly, and an error to claim their first lead of the game at 6-5. The lead lasted just one inning as relief pitcher Tom O'Connor (Fr., Philadelphia, Pa./La Salle) gave up two runs in the top of the seventh before being replaced by Jim Vankoski. O'Connor allowed two runs on two hits in 2.2 innings pitched. After Vankoski closed the seventh the Hoyas tied the ballgame at 7-7 in the bottom half of the inning. Eric Santana (Sr., Santurce, P.R./Edgewood) walked to lead off the inning and scored on a Marc Carlini single. GU rallied for five more runs in the eighth including a two-out two-RBI double by Michael Lombardi to take a 12-7 advantage. Vankoski sealed the victory closing the ninth earning his first victory of the season. He finished the game allowing three hits but no runs in 2.2 innings.
The Hoyas continue their BIG EAST Conference play on Saturday and Sunday (3/24-25) as they host both St. John's and Boston College in double-headers respectively. St. John's, led by junior outfielder Charles Bilezikjian's nine RBIs, has a 6-8 overall record and are 2-1 in the conference (as of March 18). Boston College is 9-8 overall and 0-3 in the BIG EAST. Senior catcher Chris Rosado leads the Eagles with 22 RBIs and a .354 batting average (as of March 19). Both double-headers are scheduled to begin at 12:00 p.m. EST.
