April 2, 2009
Washington, D.C. - For the third BIG EAST series in a row, Georgetown University baseball will take on the top team in the conference. The Hoyas started the season with the preseason pick to win the league, Louisville, and then took on the undefeated St. John's Red Storm. This weekend the squad will travel to Morgantown, W. Va. for a three-game set with the current leaders, West Virginia. The teams play Friday at 5 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
Baumann Named BIG EAST Player of the Week
Georgetown senior leftfielder Sean Baumann (Tampa, Fla./Freedom) was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week on Monday by the conference office in Providence, R.I. Baumann hit a BIG EAST-leading .579 (11-for-19) in a 3-2 week for the Hoyas, which included a pair of conference wins against St. John's.
The senior hit .636 with two home runs in the three-game series against the Red Storm, including a stretch in which he reached base safely in eight consecutive plate appearances. Georgetown capped the series with a 6-4 win in front of 22,397 fans at Citi Field, the new home of the New York Mets.
Baumann was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for the week of March 10 last season and becomes the first GU representative to be named Player of the Week since Mark McLaughlin on April 30, 2007.
Hoya Offensive Rankings in the BIG EAST
Currently, a number of Georgetown players currently rank among the top 10 in a handful of offensive categories. Tommy Lee (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) currently leads the league in stolen bases Sean Lamont (Houston, Texas/Bellaire) ranks second in home runs and eighth in RBI's. Sophomore Dan Capeless (Centerville, Mass./Boston College H.S.) is second in the league in walks and seventh in triples, while Baumann is seventh in slugging percentage.
Last Meeting with West Virginia
The Hoyas dropped two of three to the Mountaineers to end the 2007 season. Jimmy Saris (Great Falls, Va./Langley) pitched the final and earned the win, going seven innings and allowing one run on six hits. Tom Elliott (Blue Bell, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep) batted .300 for the series, scoring a run and driving in three.
Scouting the Mountaineers
WVU enters the week in sole possession of first place in the BIG EAST with a 5-1 conference record. In last Sunday's 7-4 victory over Villanova, the Mountaineers produced a season-high four home runs, its largest total since hitting four against Connecticut on April 26, 2008.
Senior Justin Parks led the Mountaineer offense during the week, going 11-for-19 with two home runs as the team's lead-off batter and being named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll. Redshirt freshman Justin Ellis and junior Andy Altemus both had near identical scoring lines after getting victories over Kentucky and Villanova, respectively. Both players went 5.2 innings and gave up two earned runs with five strikeouts.
The Mountaineers lead the BIG EAST in offensive categories such as batting average, scoring, doubles and slugging percentage and defensive categories like strikeouts per nine innings and doubles plays. In those four offensive categories, WVU ranks among the top 15 nationally in all of them.
