May 13, 2009
Washington, D.C. - The Georgetown University baseball team brings their 2009 season to a close this weekend as they travel to Piscataway, New Jersey for a three-game set with Rutgers at Bainton Field. The Hoyas (16-32, 7-16 BE) can match their win total from a season ago with two wins and surpass their BIG EAST win total with one win against the Scarlet Knights (20-30, 6-18 BE). The teams play Thursday and Friday afternoons at 3 p.m. before closing the set on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Georgetown Notes
Erick Fernandez (Hialeah, Fla./Hialeah) continues his standout season at the plate leading the team in many hitting categories. Earlier this year he had a 24-game hitting streak and he currently ranks 13th in the league with a .361 batting average and is among the top 20 in slugging percentage (.570). The sophomore is also ranked fourth in the league averaging .38 doubles per game. He has 16 in 42 contests this season.
Sophomore Sean Lamont (Houston, Texas/Bellaire) ranks fifth in the conference with 14 home runs and is the first Hoya since the team joined the BIG EAST to put together consecutive seasons of double-digit home run tallies. He is also one home run away from tying the single-season mark set by Glen Bruckner with 15 in 1987. He is also currently 14th in the conference with 47 RBI's and 20th overall with 104 total bases. Junior Tom Elliott (Blue Bell, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep) is also steadily climbing the home run charts in the BIG EAST and is currently 19th after hitting his seventh home run two weeks ago and he also ranks 11 in triples.
Two Hoyas, Tommy Lee (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) and Dan Capeless (Centerville, Mass./Boston College H.S.), have been able to get on base with regularity this season, albeit in different ways. Lee is eighth in the conference with 13 hit-by-pitches and Capeless is sixth in the league with 31 walks. Lee has been able to turn his bruises to opportunities and has stolen 20 bases, tops in the BIG EAST, helping the Hoyas rank fourth in the conference overall (66 stolen bases).
On the pitching side, junior right-hander Tim Adleman (Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield) is fifth in the BIG EAST with 60 strikeouts and is tied with Jimmy Saris (Great Falls, Va./Langley) and Will Harris (Winter Park, Fla./Trinity Prep) for the team lead in wins. The Georgetown pitchers have done a nice job this season with their control, attaining a 3.39 walks per nine innings, one of the lowest marks among league teams. Harris is actually 13th in the conference, allowing only 2.86 bases-on-balls per nine innings. Also, Georgetown has employed a closer-by-committee approach this season as seven different players have recorded saves.
Against Rutgers
Georgetown has lost 10 in a row to the Scarlet Knights and 23 of the past 24 contests. The hard luck the Hoyas have faced can be summed up by a contest back in 2002, as Kevin Field threw a no-hitter only to lose 1-0, thanks to a double-error in the first.
Last season, the Hoyas were swept as Rutgers averaged 12 runs a contest at Shirley Povich Field. In game one, the Blue & Gray allowed the first seven runs of the game but did not give up in their pursuit of a win, cutting the Scarlet Knight lead at one point to 8-7. However, the Hoyas allowed 11 runs in the eighth inning and took the loss, 22-10 Lee was the offensive star going 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI's, while also picking up a triple and two sacrifice flies.
In the second game, Mike Gaggioli went eight innings for GU but Rutgers countered with Steve Holt and Kyle Bradley splitting 7-plus innings, and allowing only two runs in a 5-3 Scarlet Knight victory. During the finale, the Hoyas trailed 9-4 going into their final at-bat and got within a run after a three-run homer from Matt Harrigan. However, Georgetown fell 9-8, despite Harrigan's two home runs and six RBI's. He and Lamont each hit three home runs during the series.
Scouting Rutgers
Rutgers dropped a three-game series to Seton Hall for the first time in three years. Freshman Willie Beard pitched a career-long 7.1 innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts to earn his first career BIG EAST victory in the series opener with SHU. Beard threw 99 pitches before handing it over to the bullpen in the eighth.
Senior Ryan Beard picked up his seventh save of the season in the series opener with Seton Hall and was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll. He moved into sole possession of sixth place on the Rutgers single-season saves list and into a tie for sixth place on the school's career saves list with 10.
Sophomore Pat Biserta hit .563 with four doubles and a home run in four games last week, serving as Rutgers' designated hitter and left fielder. He leads the team with a .341 batting average and is second in total bases and slugging percentage (.551). Meanwhile, sophomore outfielder Michael Lang leads the team in runs (56), home runs (8) and RBI's (38).
