May 5, 2006

Washington, D.C. - The Georgetown University baseball team hosts BIG EAST foe West Virginia this weekend at Shirley Povich Field in Bethesda, Md. On Saturday, May 6, a doubleheader consisting of two nine-innings game starts at 5 p.m. with the series finale set to begin on Sunday, May 7 at noon. Live stats for all three games will be available at www.guhoyas.com, in addition to a live internet broadcast of Sunday's contest with Mike Vaillancourt calling the action.

West Virginia (29-15, 9-9 BE) currently stands in fifth place in the league standings, while the Hoyas (21-26, 7-11 BE) are just two games back of the Mountaineers. The Hoyas are one game behind USF (9-12) for the eighth and final playoff spot, although GU does hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Bulls. Both Georgetown and West Virginia have three BIG EAST series remaining and GU and WVU have posted identical 4-2 records against their common opponents, Seton Hall and Louisville.

The BIG EAST Championship, consisting of the top eight teams, will take place May 23 - 27 Bright House Networks Field in Clearwater, Florida.

In their seven BIG EAST wins, Georgetown's pitching staff is holding opponents to a .194 batting average and boasts an ERA of 2.00. The weekend starting pitching trio of seniors Warren Sizemore (Hamilton, Ohio/Ross), Stephen Burns (Westchester, Pa./Malvern Prep) and freshman Darren Sizemore (Hamilton, Ohio/Ross) have struck out 31 batters while walking 14 hitters.

Darren Sizemore was named BIG EAST Co-Pitcher of the Week on Monday after throwing a complete-game, three-hit shutout in the rubber game of the series at USF last Sunday.

Sophomore infielder Matthew Bouchard (E. Greenwich, R.I./Bishop Hendricken), who was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday, is in the midst of a seven-game hit streak, batting .444 over the stretch with a team-best eight runs and six RBI.

Senior first baseman Ryan Craft (Jupiter, Fla./The Benjamin School) is hitting .302 against BIG EAST opponents with seven extra-base hits and a team-best 13 RBI. Craft ranks second in the league with 17 doubles.

Junior outfielder Mark McLaughlin (Walnut Creek, Calif./De La Salle) leads the BIG EAST with 20 stolen bases in 26 attempts.

Senior outfielder Timmy Jones (Ledgewood, N.J./Morristown) has scored a run in five of the last six games and has three multi-hit games during the stretch. Jones ranks fourth on the team in hits (42) and RBI (17).

Sophomore righty Daniel Kennedy (W. Orange, N.J./The Regis School) ranks second in the league with seven saves. Kennedy has finished 16 games for the Hoyas and is one save shy of matching the school record for saves in a single season (Derek Pines, 8, 1997).

The Hoyas have posted a 13-7 record at home and GU is the only team to defeat league-leading and eighth-ranked Notre Dame.

After West Virginia dropped seven straight from April 8 - 22, the Mountaineers have won five of their last six, winning two of three from Louisville and Villanova.