Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

BASEBALL | Hoyas Headed Back to NC

Fresh off their 9-4 midweek loss at the hands of Norfolk State, Georgetown’s men’s baseball team heads down to Winston-Salem, N.C., this weekend to play in the Wake Forest Classic.

The Hoyas (2-2) open up on Friday morning against the Northwestern Wildcats (1-3). Junior pitcher Will Harris has the task of shutting down the Wildcats, a team that Head Coach Pete Wilk considers very comparable to the Hoyas.

“[Northwestern] will be a pretty good test,” he said. “If Harris pitches like he did on Saturday [against Davidson], I think we can beat a lot of people.”

Finishing tied for third in the Big Ten last spring, Northwestern is led by senior third baseman Chris Lashmet, junior outfielder Trevor Stevens and first baseman/right-handed pitcher Paul Snieder. In order to come away with a victory, the Hoyas will need to shut down Lashmet and Stevens and work the count against the Wildcat pitchers, who are prone to bouts of wildness.

Thanks to an outstanding performance on the mound against Army, junior captain Tommy Isaacs makes his return to the weekend rotation in the Hoyas’ second game on Saturday against Delaware State (0-3).

Delaware State scored only two runs in three games at Arkansas last weekend. Isaacs will hope to continue that trend and keep Delaware’s hitters off the board.

The only experience the Hoyas have had with the Hornets in recent years have been midweek meetings.

“Their weekend [pitchers] are better,” Wilk said. “I think the kids are looking at the midweek Delaware State in which we’ve run up 18 or 20 runs. That’s not going to happen Saturday.”

The Blue and Gray close out the weekend on Sunday with their biggest test of the season so far, Wake Forest (1-3). The Demon Deacons are led by Head Coach and Georgetown alum Tom Walter (MSB ’91), who made national news earlier this month when he donated a kidney to Wake Forest freshman outfielder Kevin Jordan.

Walter returned to his team in time for the Demon Deacons’ season-opening series in Baton Rouge against No. 20 LSU. Although the Tigers swept the three-game series against Walter’s squad, Wake Forest rebounded with an extra-inning victory against Western Carolina.

In search of their second win, the Demon Deacons will face senior southpaw Alex Meyer. Meyer, who got his first win of the year against Davidson and will face a Wake Forest lineup that has yet to find its groove at the plate.

Playing in one of the nation’s premier baseball conferences, the ACC, Wake Forest will definitely be a challenge for the Blue and Gray.

“They’re not gods,” Wilk said of the Demon Deacons. “They’re going to do well and be easily the best team we will have played at this stretch of the season. I’m really looking forward to Sunday because I think it’s going to give me a very good gauge of where we are and where we can be, and where we have to be.”

In order to come out of this weekend’s gauntlet with some victories, Georgetown will rely heavily on their solid weekend starters. Luckily for Meyer, Harris and Isaacs, the Georgetown offense has lived up to the hype so far this season. Leading the way are senior third baseman Sean Lamont, junior outfielder Rand Ravnaas and sophomore shortstop Mike Garza. Lamont leads the team with a .563 batting average so far this season, with Ravnaas not far behind at .438. Garza is hitting .250 but leads the team with three RBI.

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