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 Sophomore Will Cooper went 3-for-5 against Towson on Wednesday |
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Baseball's Rally Falls Short Against Towson in Seventh Annual Jackie Robinson Game
April 16, 2008
ARLINGTON, VA - George Washington baseball rallied from a nine-run deficit to close to within two, and had the winning run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth with one out, but Towson was able to squash the comeback attempt and hang on for the 13-11 win in a non-conference game Wednesday afternoon at Barcroft Park in Arlington, VA.
Tuesday's contest was GW's Seventh Annual Jackie Robinson Game. The game is played to commemorate the anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking Major League Baseball's long-standing color barrier when he played his first game as a Brooklyn Dodger on April 15, 1947.
Towson (20-17) scored six runs in the first inning, added one in the second and then three more in the top of the third to take a commanding 9-0 lead, but GW (17-18) rallied and outscored the Tigers, 11-4, over the final 6½ innings.
Towson was led by Matt Collins, who hit 4-for-6 with two doubles and two RBI, and Terry Gallo, who hit two home runs and drove in four, as eight of the nine position starters recorded at least one hit.
The Colonials also had eight of their starters record at least one hit, including sophomore catcher Will Cooper (McLean, VA/Gonzaa College HS), who went 3-for-5 with a double and three RBI. Senior OF Charlie Kruer (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge) had a pair of hits, one of which was his sixth home run of the season, a solo shot to center in the eighth. Kruer is now seventh all-time at GW with 32 career homers.
Towson's Jon Dupski (2-6) picked up the win with 2.2 innings pitched. GW sophomore starter Faizan Choudhry (Langley, BC/Langley Secondary) suffered his first loss of the season, after he allowed six runs in just a third of an inning. Sophomore Bobby Lucas (Baltimore, MD/Calvert Hall College HS) pitched three innings in relief and struck out five while surrendering two earned runs.
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In the top of the first, Towson sent 10 batters to the plate and recorded four hits to go along with three walks and scored six runs, capped by a one-out grand slam off the bat of Aaron Gabrielian. A Matt Collins sacrifice-fly in the second made it 7-0, and an RBI-single and a Terry Gallo solo home run in the third gave the Tigers a 9-0 advantage.
In the bottom of the third, GW loaded the bases with two outs for Will Cooper, who delivered with a bases-clearing double into left field, cutting into Towson's lead, 9-4. The Tigers answered in the top of the fourth with a two-run Terry Gallo homer, his second of the game.
The Colonials pushed across two runs in the bottom of the fourth, scoring one on a Tom Zebroski (Port Washington, NY/Paul Schreiber) sac-fly and then another on a wild pitch. In the fifth, GW added two more runs, making it 11-8, with a two-run home run hit off the bat of sophomore Curtis Eward (Oak Hill, VA/Oakton), his second of the year.
The teams exchanged a run in each of the next three frames. Towson scored one in the top of the sixth with a Terry Gallo RBI-single. GW responded with an RBI-single of their own, hit by junior Doug Eizen (Philadelphia, PA/The Haverford School), before the Tigers added a run in the top of the seventh, making it 13-9 in favor of the visitors.
Charlie Kruer's solo homer in the eighth made it 13-10, as GW refused to go down quietly.
Sophomore Jimmy Duggan (Jefferson, MD/St. John's Prospect Hall) pitched a scoreless top of the ninth to keep GW's hopes alive heading into their last at-bat. A hit batter, a walk and a single through the right side cut the score to 13-11 and put runners on first and second with just one out. The Colonials had two chances with the winning run at the plate, but Towson's closer Josh Squatrito was able to slam the door shut as he struck out the side to preserve the win. Squatrito pitched ninth for his sixth save of the year.
George Washington host Dayton (18-16, 4-8 A-10) this weekend for a three-game Atlantic 10 Conference series, beginning Friday, at 4:00 p.m.
