PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. - The Georgetown University baseball team receiving dominant pitching on Saturday, sweeping a doubleheader at Villanova with a pair of 4-2 victories at Villanova Park at Plymouth. With the wins, the Hoyas won the series and improve to 11-25 on the season and 2-4 in BIG EAST play while the Wildcats fall to 9-24 overall and 2-4 in conference action.
Game One: Georgetown 4, Villanova 2
Nick Morreale (Lake Elmo, Minn. / St. Thomas Academy / IMG Academy) struck out a career-best 12 batters and the Hoyas scored four runs on just five hits to even the series at one win apiece.
Morreale fired 6.0 innings, allowing just one run on five hits and two walks. His 12 strikeouts were a personal best and he struck out three batters in both the second and third innings.
Jacob Grzebinski (Bellaire, Texas / Emery Weiner) pitched the final 3.0 innings, allowing one run on one hit while striking out six for his fifth save of the season.
Matt Stone (Westport, Conn / Staples) had three of GU's four hits, including his second home run of the season.
Kyle Ruedisili (Jupiter, Fla. / The Benjamin School / Washington and Lee University) singled and stole two bases.
After Villanova took a 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth, the Hoyas answered right back with a two-run fifth inning.
Ryan Weisenberg (Parkland, Fla. / San Ramon Valley [Calif.]) walked and
Freddy Achecar III (Atlanta, Ga. / Lovett School) was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Stone followed with his second hit of the game, lining an RBI single into left to score Weisenberg and tie the game. After a ground out moved Achecar to third, he crossed the plate on a safety squeeze bunt by
James Gabor (Wyndmoor, Pa. / William Penn Charter School) to give GU a 2-1 lead.
Stone added a solo home run in the top of the seventh, blasting his second of the season down the left field line, to extend the lead to 3-1. In the top of the ninth,
Eddie McCabe (Norwalk, Conn. / Norwalk) struck out but reached on a passed ball. He moved to second on a wild pitch and came around to score on a double by Weisenberg into the right-center field gap, giving the Hoyas an insurance run and a 4-1 lead.
The Wildcats hit a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth, but Grzebinski ended the game with his sixth strikeout to earn the save.
Game Two: Georgetown 4, Villanova 2
Jack Cushing (Flower Mound, Texas / Marcus) had a historic game, firing his first career complete game as the Hoyas completed the doubleheader sweep to win the series.
Cushing went the distance for the first time in his career, allowing just two runs on five hits. He did not allow a hit until there were two outs in the fifth inning. Cushing struck out six on the day, giving him 204 career strikeouts. He becomes just the sixth Hoya in program history to reach 200 in his career and jumped over Brian O'Hare ('96) and Michael Gaggioli ('08) for fourth all-time in GU history with the 204 strikeouts.
Will Salomon (Greenwich, Conn. / Brunswick) and Weisenberg each had two hits, while Salomon was on base four time with a pair of walks. McCabe had a pair of singles and Gabor was also on base four times with a single and three walks.
Ruedisili put the Hoyas on the board with his team-leading sixth home run of the season, a solo shot well over the right field fence, to lead off the top of the third inning. In the fourth,
Tony Barreca (Long Grove, Iowa / North Scott) lined a one-out double down the left field line. After a wild pitch, he scored on an RBI ground out by
Yareb Martinez (Aldie, Va. / John Champe) to give GU a 2-0 lead.
Ryan M. Davis (Danville, Calif. / San Ramon Valley) led off the top of the fifth inning with double into the left-center field gap. With one out, Weisenberg lined a run-scoring single up the middle. Salomon followed with an RBI double over the center fielder's head to put Georgetown ahead 4-0.
Villanova got on the board in the bottom of the eighth as a single, triple and run-scoring ground out cut the GU lead in half 4-2. Cushing did not allow the Wildcats any closer however, clinching the series victory.
The Hoyas will wrap up their eight-game road trip with a midweek matchup at Navy. First pitch on Tuesday is set for 6 p.m. in Annapolis, Maryland. Georgetown will then have its bye weekend from conference play, welcoming Rider to Shirley Povich Field for a two-day, three-game series next weekend.
