Hourigan Hits Walk-Off Homerun as UConn Tops Georgetown 5-4 in 10 Innings

Boxscore [.pdf]

STORRS, Conn. (May 1, 2005) - Senior Jeff Hourigan (Beacon Falls, Conn.) slammed a homerun over the right-center wall in the first at-bat of the 10th inning as the University of Connecticut baseball team defeated Georgetown 5-4 on Sunday afternoon at J.O. Christian Field. The victory gave UConn the series win as the Huskies improve to 28-18 with an 8-9 mark in the BIG EAST. Georgetown falls to 22-25, 6-13 against league opponents. Connecticut has now won six of its last seven games.

UConn broke a scoreless game in the bottom of the fourth inning as the Huskies went up 2-0. Senior Tony Mallozzi (Westboro, Mass.) led off with a single up the middle and advanced to third on a single to left by Hourigan, who was tagged out trying to move to second. Freshman Vin DiFazio (Hampton, N.J.) then brought home Mallozzi on another single to left. Sophomore Dennis Donovan (Center Moriches, N.Y.) collected an RBI when he hit a single through the left side to score DiFazio.

The Huskies added a run in the seventh inning to move the score to 3-0. Sophomore Matt Untiet (Berlin, Conn.) reached base on a one-out walk and then came around to score on a double by junior Austin Wasserman (Nashua, N.H.).

Connecticut then went ahead 4-0 in the eighth when Hourigan, who singled to right center, scored on a double down the left line by Donovan.

Junior starter Brendan McGinn (Tolland, Conn.) pitched into the top of the ninth inning. Through eight innings, he held Georgetown scoreless on just two hits with four strikeouts. McGinn started the ninth inning and got the first two outs with one run allowed, but an error by Donovan at short continued the inning. With two runners on, McGinn was relieved by freshman David Erickson (Stratford, Conn.). The Hoyas then loaded the bases on a single and walked in a run to cut UConn's lead to 4-2. Brandon Davis drove in two more runs on a single down the left line to complete the rally and knot the game at 4-4.

Connecticut was unable to score in the bottom of the ninth as the game went into extra innings for the fourth time this season. In the top of the tenth, Erickson got all three batters to ground out to hold the score at 4-4. Hourigan then stepped to the plate to lead off the bottom of the inning, and on his second pitch, blasted the ball over the right-center wall for his seventh homerun of the year and to give the Huskies a 5-4 win.

Both starters, McGinn and Tom Braun of the Hoyas, pitched well and went into the eighth innings but got no-decisions. Erickson moved to 1-1 this season, picking up his first collegiate victory. Michael Halloran (5-3) registered the loss for Georgetown.

Hourigan led the UConn bats, going 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Donovan also had multiple hits in the game with a 2-for-4 performance while batting in two runs. The Huskies hit three more doubles in the game to total 107 on the season, third-highest in school history.

Due to finals, Connecticut will not play again until May 10 when the Huskies play at Rhode Island at 3:30 p.m. UConn then returns to J.O. Christian Field on May 12 to face Sacred Heart at 2:00 p.m.