PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. – After leading by as many as two runs on Friday afternoon, a three-run third inning for Georgetown took the lead over Villanova to ultimately build to a 10-5 final to defeat the Wildcats to open BIG EAST play.
 
Graduate shortstop Craig Larsen and graduate left fielder Paul Cooke showed strong performances in the competition. Larsen hit a big RBI double in the bottom of the first to bring in first baseman Jack O'Reilly from second. Cooke hit an RBI single in the bottom of the second to bring second baseman Michael Whooley home.

Starting pitcher Chic DeGaetano had a strong outing on the day keeping the Hoyas scoreless for two innings. He struck out three by the end of his 3.0 inning. Graduate pitcher, Zach Camp came into the game as relief and tossed for a total of 2.1 innings. During his stint on the mound, Camp fanned two and didn't allow the Hoyas any hits or runs scored. 
 
The Wildcats kicked things off with centerfielder AJ Hansen hitting a leadoff single in the bottom of the first and O'Reilly following with a fielder's choice bit to the shortstop, Hansen was out on the play. O'Reilly stole second to get himself into scoring position and Larsen hit a double to left center field to score O'Reilly. Villanova extended their lead in the bottom of the second with M. Whooley on second, Cooke drove a strong single to right field to bring Whooley in for the 2-0 lead.
 
The Hoyas brought new energy into the top of the third getting two men on when Jake Hyde smashed a homer into left center field to steal the lead from the 'Cats 3-2. Villanova was unable to answer for two innings while Georgetown tacked on three more runs in the top of the fourth to make it a 6-2 score.
 
Georgetown continued to add to their lead in the top of the fifth with Michael Eze getting on with a single to the shortstop and beating out the throw. Eze stole second to place himself in scoring position when Cody Bowker drilled at triple into right center field to score Eze. Christian Ficca singled up the middle to bring Bowker home with the 8-2 result by the end of the half inning.
 
Villanova was unwilling to go down without a fight with catcher Will Reiner taking a leadoff walk to get on base. Right fielder Shane Solari crushed a doubled to right center to advance Reiner to third. Reiner used a wild pitch to his advantage and ran in a run. Third baseman Steve Grober hit an RBI ground out to score Solari from third to trim the Hoyas lead down to 8-4.
 
Camp did a great job to keep the Hoyas off the scoreboard, but Georgetown's relief pitcher Jordan Yoder did his job as well leading to a quick and scoreless sixth and seventh innings.
 
In the bottom of the eight, Yoder was replaced by Garrett Keough and the 'Cats got the bats going with new life. Grober doubled down the right field line followed by M. Whooley singling to left center field to move Grober to third. Grober scored on a wild pitch to tack on a run for the 'Cats making it a three-run game.
 
Georgetown had a strong ninth inning on the base path to get men into scoring position when Ficca stepped up and ignited the Hoya offense to bring in a run. A sacrifice fly by Austin Kretzschmar sealed the 10-5 victory for Georgetown with no response from the Wildcats. The Hoyas took game one of the series.

UP NEXT: The 'Cats return to action tomorrow on Saturday, April 1 for game two of the series versus Georgetown. First pitch is set for 1:30 pm.