The Georgetown University baseball team made the short trip to College Park, Md., to take on the Maryland Terrapins after the Delaware State Hornets made an abrupt cancellation. In an offensively-fueled affair, the Hoyas prevailed by a final score of 11-7.
Georgetown (12-20, 1-2 Big East) entered this matchup coming off an underwhelming beginning to conference play. They opened against Villanova (17-13, 2-1 Big East) on the road, losing two of three and scoring only 8 runs across the three games.
Right-hander Joey McMannis started for the Terps (14-19, 3-9 Big Ten), and the Hoyas jumped on him early. First-year outfielder Jackson Thomas singled with 1 out and stole second. Thomas, putting himself in a scoring position, allowed sophomore infielder Blake Schaaf to drive him in with a single of his own.
Graduate righty Nadell Booker toed the mound for the Hoyas. He sat down a potent top of the order, inducing a double play after a leadoff walk.
Georgetown went down in order in the top of the second, granting Maryland another opportunity to strike back. Once again, the Terps put the leadoff man on, this time via a single. They would not squander this opportunity, using small-ball tactics to tie things up at 1-1.
Booker worked out of the inning without any more damage, marking the end of his day.
Undeterred, the Georgetown offense responded in the top of the third. Thomas singled and stole second again. He then advanced to third on a wild pitch. Again, Schaaf drove him in, this time on a sacrifice fly. With the bases cleared and 2 outs, it appeared that McMannis would get out of the inning without further damage.
The Hoyas thought otherwise. Graduate catcher Connor Price turned on an inside pitch and roped a double before sophomore outfielder Ashtin Gilio walked, provoking a Maryland mound visit. The attempt to soothe McMannis’ nerves did not work, as he walked graduate outfielder Kavi Caster to load the bases. Senior outfielder Jaden Sheffield delivered the clutch, singling in two runs. Another wild pitch allowed Caster to score. Although Sheffield was stranded on second, the Hoyas left the inning with a 5-1 lead.
Sophomore Johan Franco was first in relief for Georgetown. Unfortunately, his outing ended almost as soon as it began. He walked the first two batters before a single loaded the bases. Georgetown took a mound visit. Franco then induced a fielder’s choice from the dangerous Chris Hacopian. Hollis Porter, already with a hit on the day, proceeded to change the game with one swing. He sent a homer down the right field line to tie both teams at 5-5.
Franco responded by getting a flyout before walking another batter, provoking Associate Head Coach George Capen to opt for junior lefty Andrew Jergins. Jergins hit his first batter but no harm was caused, as he got a flyout to end the inning.
Logan Hastings replaced McMannis for Maryland and worked a 1-2-3 top of the fourth. Jergins replicated Hastings in the bottom half, walking the leadoff man before inducing a flyout and inning-ending double play.
Hastings began the fifth with two walks, causing a mound visit. Gilio then dropped a bunt in front of Hastings and reached on the infield single, loading the bases for Georgetown. Caster drove in Schaaf with a sacrifice fly to regain the lead. Price advanced to third on the play. Gilio then stole second to put two runners in scoring position for Jaden Sheffield. Hastings struck him out to close the book on his day. Devin Milberg entered to face graduate infielder Noah Leib, ending the inning with a flyout.
Graduate arm Griffin O’Connor started the bottom of the fifth. He allowed a leadoff single to Hacopian but responded with a strikeout of Porter. He then traded two hit-by-pitches and two strikeouts to get through a scoreless fifth.
Georgetown also loaded the bases in the next half, but couldn’t plate any. Junior infielder Jeremy Sheffield singled with one out. He stole second during Thomas’ plate appearance, which resulted in a walk. Schaaf also walked, setting the stage for Price. Unfortunately, both he and Gilio struck out looking to end the threat.
With the Hoyas clinging to a 1-run lead, sophomore Jack Volo entered to replace O’Connor. First-year Ashton Seymore was also subbed in for Leib at first base. Volo sat the Terps down in short order, striking out the first man he faced before getting a groundout and a lineout.
Georgetown, desperately searching for insurance, got it in the top of the seventh. Caster reached on an error to lead off the inning. Seymore, in his first plate appearance of the game, worked a walk. First-year outfielder Dylan Larkins followed with a walk to load the bases. This prompted Maryland to go to the bullpen, bringing in Jack Wren.
Jeremy Sheffield stepped to the plate. He has been one of the Hoyas’ most consistent hitters all season with a .297 batting average and .811 OPS. In a 2-1 count, Wren pumped a fastball over the heart of the plate and Sheffield did not miss it. He smoked the offering to right field and watched it clear the fence for a grand slam. The Hoyas led 10-5.
Graduate lefty Axel Johnson took the ball in the bottom of the seventh. Facing the heart of the Maryland order, he went flyout-popup-groundout to sit them down.
The Hoya offense did not stop in the eighth. Price led off with a single and stole second. Gilio moved him to third with a sacrifice bunt. Andrew Johnson, a lefty meant to neutralize Caster, entered the game. Caster greeted him with a shot to center field on a low fastball. The ball got halfway up the wall and Caster had himself an RBI double, extending Georgetown’s lead.
The Hoyas went from one lefty to another as senior Marshall Whitmer took the ball. He got two quick outs but then ran into some trouble. He hit a batter and allowed two singles, the second driving in a run. He limited the damage with an inning-ending flyout.
Georgetown batters struck out three times in the top of the ninth, but Thomas recorded his third hit of the day. They entered the bottom of the ninth needing to protect a five-run lead.
Senior righty Matthew Sapienza was tasked to get the final three outs. Hacopian reached on an error to lead off the inning, putting a minor scare into Hoya supporters. The next two batters singled to load the bases. Suddenly, one swing of the bat could make it a 1-run game.
An unfazed Sapienza bore down, striking out the next batter. He allowed 1 run on a single before getting a flyout and another strikeout to seal a Georgetown victory, 11-7.
Head Coach Edwin Thompson said the team made him proud, especially considering the quality of the opponent and previous results.
“What a great win today for our program, obviously to beat a well-coached team and a program like Maryland is great for our guys,” Thompson told Georgetown Athletics. “I am really proud of how we responded after the weekend.”
Georgetown will look to carry this momentum into a tough upcoming series against a perennial Big East contender, the University of Connecticut (14-17, 2-4 Big East). Game one is on Friday night in Storrs, Conn., at 6 p.m.
