Wild 7th-inning leads to 4th straight win

After a late rally gave Georgetown the series opener against Bethel on Saturday, the Tigers were forced to do it again in game 2. An eventful 7th inning went the Tigers way, leading to a 10-5 win and the team's 4th straight.

Georgetown had the first viable chance for offense in the bottom of the 1st. An error and walk put Jose Cazorla and Nolan Smith on with 2 out. Diondre Jacob followed with grounder to short that ended the inning on a fielder's choice. Bethel got a leadoff single in the top of the 2nd off David Edwards, but the threat was quickly erased as Edwards induced a 4-6-3 double play for the 1st 2 outs. A weak grounder followed to continue the strong start for the Georgetown southpaw.

The action picked up in the 3rd. Bethel started with a triple and single to get on the board. Edwards bounced back and retired 3 straight to negate any further trouble. He didn't trail for long as the Tiger bats went to work in the bottom of the inning. Jarrett Chapman led off with a single and moved to 2nd after Payton Rios was hit by a pitch. Jose Cazorla then lofted a single to left with no out. Nolan Smith then laced a ball to left that the fielder tried for a diving catch on but came up short. The ball rolled by as all 3 runners came sprinting home for a 3-1 lead. 3 batters later, Elijah Verge made it a 4-1 lead with a single to score Smith from 3rd.

David Edwards cruised through the 4th & 5th innings with the lead in tow. Bethel got a run back in the 6th to cut the lead to 4-2. On 83 pitches, Edwards went back out for the 7th. After 2 quick outs, Edwards gave up a single and wild pitch. The next batter hit a sharp grounder to second but Luis Sosa faced a bad hop and the ball rolled to right center, allowing the run to score. Edwards then balked the runner to 2nd and walked the next, bringing his day to a close. Mitchell Knight came on and struggled. 9 straight balls allowed a run in to tie the game at 4. Knight walked the next batter he faced to give the Wildcats the 5-4 lead, with both runs charged to Edwards. Georgetown made the move to Mason Mortimer, who got the final out to leave the bases loaded.

The bottom of the 7th was the turning point of the game. Payton Rios and Jose Cazorla led off with singles. After a BU pitching change, Nolan Smith laid down a would-be sacrifice bunt towards 3rd. The Wildcats tried for the play at 3rd, but Rios was ruled safe as the shortstop failed to step on the bag or tag Rios. After a long discussion amongst the umpires, the call stood to the surprise of everyone at the game. The discussion continued to the point of Bethel's head coach being ejected from the game for refusing to leave the field. Georgetown took advantage of the break. Diondre Jacob tied the game with a single to left. 2 batters later, Elijah Verge drew a walk to give GC a 6-5 lead. Michael Detzel followed with a grounder to 2nd. A would-be double play was foiled as Detzel hustled down the line and beat the throw to 1st. Nolan Smith scored on the play for an 8-5 lead. Hunter Hampton then stepped up with a long double to center to cap the wild inning that saw Georgetown score 5 to take a 9-5 lead.

Luis Sosa doubled home a run in the bottom of the 8th as Mason Mortimer handled business on the mound for the final 2.1 innings to get the win and secure the series. The Tigers will go for the sweep on Sunday at Noon.