George Washington University
Saint Joseph's
Colonials Drop Series Opener 5-4 To Saint Joseph's
5/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 14, 2009
CAMDEN, NJ - The GW baseball team (20-33, 9-14 A-10) began their final series of the season on Thursday afternoon by dropping a 5-4 decision to Saint Joseph's on a bases-loaded walk to end the game. The Hawks withstood a furious Colonials' comeback after starter Chris Neary threw six innings and allowed three earned runs in Camden, NJ.
Saint Joseph's (16-28-1, 9-15 A-10) got on the board first with three second-inning runs keyed by a pair of RBI walks and an RBI single. The Colonials' pitching staff had control problems throughout the game and issued free passes to eight Hawk batters.
The Colonials fought back with single runs in the fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth innings to tie the score at 4-4 after eight innings. A single by junior Curtis Eward scored the run in the fourth and a Sean Rockey sacrifice fly pushed across the run in the fifth.
George Washington used a Brendon Kelliher RBI single in the seventh and a Chris Holland RBI single in the eighth to tie the score at four. Four Colonials recorded multi-hit games including junior Jon Chirumbolo, who got his second straight start in the outfield and went 2-3 with a walk in the contest. Holland also reached base three times as he walked twice to go along with his RBI single.
Freshman Marshall Seedorff came on in relief for Neary and pitched two innings allowing just one run. After Seedorff plunked the Hawks' David Valesente to begin the bottom of the ninth, he was relieved by Ryan LaPointe. LaPointe promptly gave up a single to Dewey Oriente before striking out Mike Plakis for the first out. SJU pinch-hitter Ryan Kemp then legged out an infield hit to third to load the bases. LaPointe got ahead of Mike Blahusch with a 1-2 count before missing with his next three pitches to force in the winning run.
The Colonials take on the Hawks again tomorrow in the second game of the three-game series. Senior Pat Lehman figures to make his final collegiate start for the Colonials. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m.
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