May 10, 2013

WASHINGTON -

The Georgetown University baseball team will play a three-game series at Rutgers University this weekend. The Hoyas and the Scarlet Knights begin the series on Saturday with a double header and conclude with a game on Sunday.

Georgetown enters the weekend with a 25-21 overall record, including a 5-13 mark in BIG EAST Conference play. Last weekend, the Hoyas fell to Pittsburgh at home in a three-game series, losing 8-3 on Friday, 13-3 on Saturday, and 6-2 on Sunday.

The Blue & Gray are led offensively by senior infielder Trevor Mattern (Santa Clarita, Calif./Hart), who is hitting .353 for the season, and freshman catcher Nick Collins (Carthage, N.C./Union Pines), who is batting .322. Senior outfielder Justin Leeson (Exton, Pa./West Chester) has recorded a .299 batting average this season and is first on the team with 55 hits. Junior outfielder Christian Venditti (Newtonville, Mass./St. Sebastian's School) leads the team in home runs and runs batted in, with seven and 33, respectively. Senior infielder Danny Poplawski (Bellevue, Wash./The Overlake School) has the most doubles on the team, with 14. Sophomore infielder Ryan Busch (Falcon Heights, Minn./Roseville Area) leads the team with 14 stolen bases, while Leeson is close behind with 13.

The Hoya pitching staff is led by senior Charlie Steinman (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Chaminade), who has a 4-2 record, eight saves, and an earned run average of 1.26 in 22 appearances. Redshirt sophomore Jack Vander Linden (Dallas, Texas/Episcopal School of Dallas) is first on the team with 43 strikeouts, while senior Thomas Polus (Crown Point, Ind./Andrean) has 40. Eight Georgetown pitchers have an earned run average of 4.00 or lower.

Rutgers University is 22-26 for the season, with a 10-8 record in BIG EAST competition. The Scarlet Knights lost to St. Peter's College, 10-4, on Tuesday. Rutgers took two games out of three from Connecticut last weekend, but has lost seven of its last nine games. Vinny Zarrillo, Steve Zavala, and Charlie Law are hitting .324, .318, and .306, respectively. Zavala and Jeff Melillo each have for home runs for the season, and Law leads the team with 42 RBIs. Law leads the Rutgers pitching staff with 61 strikeouts.

The first game of Saturday's double-header is scheduled for 1 p.m., while the first pitch for the second game will be thrown at 4 p.m. Sunday's game is set to start at 1 p.m.

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