GAME 1 BOX SCORE .pdf | .html

STORRS, Conn. (April 3) — Russ D’Argento had four hits and the University of Connecticut’s pitching staff combined to allow just five runs in 16 innings to lead the Husky baseball team to a 5-2, 11-3 sweep of a doubleheader against Georgetown on Saturday at J.O. Christian Field in Storrs. UConn improves to 12-10 overall and 2-3 in BIG EAST play with the wins, while the Hoyas dip to 17-16 overall, 3-5 in league action.

After a rain delay of 1:40, UConn wasted no time taking command of the opening game, scoring three times in the bottom of the first. After making a tremendous over-the-shoulder catch on the center field warning track in the top of the first inning, D’Argento led off the game for UConn with a single to left field. D’Argento would advance to second on a Tim Dempsey single and score on a fielding error. Dempsey would later score on a single to center by Matt Untiet while Dave Tokarz also picked up an RBI in the rally with a single to plate Marc Peluso. The Hoyas got a pair of runs in the fourth on a two-RBI triple to right field by Ron Cano, but the Huskies got them back in the fifth. Mike Leonard took one for the team and earned an RBI by being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded while Dempsey would later score on a Bryan Maler fielder’s choice. Jeff Hourigan went the distance on the mound for UConn, allowing two unearned runs on five hits. Hourigan fanned five and walked just one to pick up his third win. Eduardo Pena took the loss for Georgetown, allowing five runs, three earned, on seven hits with three strikeouts and a walk.

UConn’s offense continued to roll in the nightcap as the Huskies broke the game open with four runs in the second. An Untiet single drove home Leonard with the first run and Untiet would come home two batters later on a Tokarz single. A botched grounder by Georgetown’s Matthew Johnson at short stop allowed two more Huskies to score. UConn took a 7-0 lead with a trio of runs in the fifth. Marc Peluso doubled off of the wall in left field to drive home D’Argento and Tokarz, putting UConn up 6-0. The seventh run scored when Peluso crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly by Leonard. Georgetown chipped away at the lead as a Michael Lombardi two-run homer to right field in the sixth cut the gap to 7-2. The Hoya deficit shifted to just 7-3 in the top of the seventh as Timmy Jones singled through the right side of the Husky infield and would take advantage of two throwing errors during the frame to score. UConn put the game away with four runs in the eighth. Singles by Hourigan and Donovan put the Huskies up 9-3 before the final blow in the rally came in the form of a two-RBI single to center off of the bat of D’Argento. Mike James went eight strong innings on the UConn mound to earn the win. James allowed three runs, two earned, on eight hits with an impressive ratio of six strikeouts against just one walk. Stephen Burns saw his record dip to 1-5 on the Hoya mound as he yielded nine runs over 7.2 innings of work.