WASHINGTON – The Georgetown University baseball team concludes its regular season this weekend when it hosts Butler in a three-game BIG EAST series at Shirley Povich Field. First pitch in Thursday's series opener is set for 7 p.m. while Friday's game will start at 6 p.m. and Saturday's finale is scheduled for noon. Links for live stats and a video stream will be available at GUHoyas.com.
 
The Hoyas currently sit just one game out of the fourth and final spot for the 2019 BIG EAST Championship. Assuming all games throughout the conference this weekend are played, Georgetown has to win at least two games over Butler while St. John's must lose at least twice to Seton Hall and Villanova must lose once to Creighton for the Hoyas tol earn the final berth and travel to Mason, Ohio next weekend for the BIG EAST Championship.
 
Georgetown (19-33, 5-10 BIG EAST) is coming off a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over UMBC on Tuesday evening in the squad's final nonconference game of the year. The Hoyas used a pair of home runs to overcome a 3-0 deficit as Kyle Ruedisili (Jupiter, Fla. / The Benjamin School / Washington and Lee University) hit a three-run blast in the fifth inning and AJ Lotsis (Phoenixville, Pa. / Episcopal Academy) added a solo shot in the eighth to provide the winning run. Four relievers combined for 4.1 shutout innings of relief as Angelo Tonas (Hillsborough, Calif. / Sacred Heart Prep) retired all four batters he faced for his second career win. Owen Lamon (Herndon, Va. / Oakton) pitched a perfect ninth for his second save.
 
For the season, Eddie McCabe (Norwalk, Conn. / Norwalk) leads Georgetown with a .321 (62 for 193) batting average, is second with 26 RBIs and is one of three Hoyas with three home runs. Ruedisili leads the Hoyas with 12 home runs, 15 doubles, 40 runs scored, 31 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. Ryan P. Davis (Oak Hill, Va. / Oakton) and Lotsis each have four home runs on the season to rank second. As a team, Georgetown is batting .257 and has hit 40 home runs, the program's most since 2010. The pitching staff has a 5.25 team ERA.
 
Ruedisili's 12 home runs on the season are the most by a Hoya since Sean Lamont also had 12 in 2008. Ryan Weisenberg (Parkland, Fla. / San Ramon Valley [Calif.]) sits at 148 career base hits and is just two away from becoming the 37th member of GU's 150-hit club. Jack Cushing (Flower Mound, Texas / Marcus) currently has 225 career strikeouts, which is good for second all-time in program history. He is just four away from tying Matt Smith (B'16) for the career record.
 
Butler enters the weekend with a 25-24 overall record and a 5-9 mark in BIG EAST play. Harrison Freed leads the Bulldogs with a .376 batting average, which ranks second in the conference, and leads the league in hits (77), home runs (17) and RBIs (77). Kyle Smith is hitting .311 with nine home runs and team highs of 12 doubles and 10 stolen bases. The Bulldogs are batting .261 as a team and the Butler pitching staff has a 4.10 team ERA.
 
Probable Pitching Matchups
Thursday (7 p.m.)
Georgetown - RHP Jeremiah Burke (2019: 2-8, 5.03 ERA, 78.2 IP, 76 K)
Butler - RHP Ryan Pepiot (2019: 4-4, 4.04 ERA, 71.1 IP, 113 K)
 
Friday (6 p.m.)
Georgetown - RHP Jack Cushing (2019: 4-5, 3.11 ERA, 72.1 IP, 76 K)
Butler - RHP Connor Schultz (2019: 6-0, 2.02 ERA, 71.1 IP, 73 K)
 
Saturday (noon)
Georgetown - TBD
Butler – LHP Kevin Napoleon (2019: 2-2, 2.42 ERA, 44.2 IP, 41 K)