March 25, 2015 Final Stats
Princess Anne, Md. - Nick Collins (Carthage, N.C./Union Pines) hit two home runs and the Georgetown baseball team overcame a slow start to defeat the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), 8-2, on Wednesday afternoon. Georgetown moved to .500 with the win and now sits at 10-10 on the season.
Collins' two home runs was the first time a GU player has hit two in a game since April 24, 2010, when Dan Capeless hit two against St. John's.
On Wednesday, Jack Vander Linden (Dallas, Texas/The Episcopal School of Dallas) started on the mound and went three innings, giving up two runs on two hits while striking out two. Jimmy Swad (Washington, D.C./St. Albans School) pitched three scoreless innings in relief, giving up just two hits while registering three strikeouts, picking up his second win of the season. Tim Davis (Vienna, Va./James Madison HS) also pitched three innings of scoreless relief, earning his first save of the season.
Collins finished 3-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored. AC Carter (Winter Park, Fla./Orangewood Christian) had two doubles while Joseph Bialkowski (Raleigh, N.C./Needham B. Broughton) and Chase Bushor (San Diego, Calif./Santa Fe Christian) each had two hits.
UMES (6-16) got on the board quickly with a leadoff triple and RBI groundout in the bottom of the first inning. The Hawks extended their lead with a solo home run off the left field foul pole in the second.
The Hoya bats awakened in the top of the sixth, scoring two runs to tie the game. Austin Shirley (Strafford, Pa./Conestoga) led off with a walk, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jake Kuzbel (Ashburn, Va./Stone Ridge), and went to third on a single by Collins. Carter grounded a double down the left field line to score Shirley and push Collins to third. Bialkowski knocked in Collins with an RBI groundout to shortstop to knot the score, 2-2.
GU took the lead in the top of the seventh inning with some small ball. Bushor led off with an infield single and went to second when the third baseman booted the ball. After Sammy Stevens (Birmingham, Mich./Brother Rice) was hit by a pitch, Beau Hall (Seaville, N.J./Ocean City) flew out to deep left field, allowing Bushor to advance to third. Shirley perfectly executed a safety squeeze to score Bushor and give Georgetown a 3-2 lead.
Four runs in the eighth provided all the insurance the Hoyas would need. Collins crushed a solo home run to dead center field to lead off the inning. It was Collins' second round-tripper of the season. Carter walked and moved to second on a one-out single from Ryan Busch (Falcon Heights, Minn./Roseville Area). Bushor doubled to left-center field to score Curtiss Pomeroy (Shrewsbury, Mass./Saint John's/Phillips Andover), who had pinch-run for Carter. Charlie Dillon (Chicago, Ill./Berkshire School), who had entered the game the previous inning, chopped an infield single to score Busch. Bushor crossed the plate on a wild pitch to bring the lead to 7-2.
Collins launched his second home run, well over the fence in right-center field, leading off the top of the ninth to provide the final margin, 8-2.
GU will travel to Nashville, Tennessee this weekend for a three-game series at Lipscomb University. First pitch on Friday night is scheduled for 7 p.m. with Saturday and Sunday starting at 3 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.
