4/3/2004

Game 1 Box Score - Game 2 Box Score

STORRS, Conn. ? The Georgetown baseball team lost both games of a doubleheader against the University of Connecticut on Saturday afternoon at J.O. Christian Field, dropping the first contest, 5-2, and the second game by a score of 11-3.

UConn improves to 12-10 overall and 2-3 in BIG EAST play with the wins, while the Hoyas dip to 17-16 overall and 3-5 in the league.

After a rain delay of almost two hours, UConn wasted no time taking command of the opening game, scoring three times in the bottom of the first. After making an over-the-shoulder catch on the center field warning track in the top of the first inning, Russ D?Argento led off the game for UConn in the bottom of the first with a single to left field. D?Argento would advance to second on a Tim Dempsey single and score on a fielding error. Dempsey would later score on a single to center by Matt Untiet while Dave Tokarz also picked up an RBI in the rally with a single to plate Marc Peluso.

The Hoyas got a pair of runs in the fourth on a two-RBI triple to right field by Ron Cano (El Segundo, Calif./ El Segundo), but the Huskies countered in the fifth. Mike Leonard took one for the team and earned an RBI by being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, while Dempsey would later score on a Bryan Maler fielder?s choice.

Jeff Hourigan went the distance on the mound for UConn, allowing two unearned runs on five hits. Hourigan fanned five and walked just one to pick up his third win. Eduardo Pena (Miami, Fla./ Michael Krop) took the loss for Georgetown, dropping his season record to 3-2. Pena allowed five runs, three earned, on seven hits with three strikeouts and a walk.

The Huskies jumped on the board early in game two, scoring four runs in the bottom of the second on three hits and Georgetown fielding error. A single by Untiet drove home Leonard with the first run of the contest, and Untiet would come home two batters later on a Tokarz single. A botched grounder in the infield allowed two more Huskies to score.

UConn took a 7-0 lead with a trio of runs in the fifth. Marc Peluso doubled off of the wall in left field to drive home D?Argento and Tokarz, putting UConn up 6-0. The seventh run scored when Peluso crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly by Leonard.

Georgetown chipped away at the lead when Michael Lombardi (Brookhaven Hamlet, N.Y./ St. Anthony's) hit a two-run homer to right field in the sixth cut the gap to 7-2. Lombardi, the Hoyas' batting average leader at .336, went 3-for-4 for the game after going 0-for-3 in the opener. It was his third homer of the year.

The Hoya deficit shifted to just 7-3 in the top of the seventh as Timmy Jones (Ledgewood, N.J./ Morristown) singled through the right side of the Husky infield, and later took advantage of two throwing errors during the frame to score.

UConn put the game away with four runs in the eighth. Singles by Hourigan and Donovan put the Huskies up 9-3 before the final blow in the rally came in the form of a two-RBI single to center off of the bat of D?Argento.

Mike James went eight strong innings for UConn on the mound to earn the win. James allowed three runs, two earned, on eight hits with an impressive ratio of six strikeouts against just one walk. Hoyas starter Stephen Burns (West Chester, Pa./ Malvern Prep) saw his record dip to 1-5 on the year as he yielded nine runs over 7.2 innings of work.

The Huskies and Hoyas will play a single game on Sunday at noon in Storrs to complete the three-game series.