MASON, Ohio – Saturday’s tripleheader got off to blazing start, with No. 3 seed Xavier and No. 4 seed Georgetown putting on a dazzling offensive display in the first elimination game of the 2022 BIG EAST Baseball Championship presented by Jeep at Prasco Park.
 
It was the Musketeers who deflected a mid-inning comeback by the Hoyas to keep their 2022 campaign alive with a 16-8 victory. With the win, Xavier will face the team that comes up short in Saturday’s second game held between No. 1 seed UConn and No. 2 seed Creighton.
 
After a quick 1-2-3 inning by Xavier’s starting pitcher Justin Loer to open up the game, Franzoni picked up an RBI in the bottom of the first when Luke Franzoni flied out to deep left field allowing Andrew Walker to tag up for the early lead.
 
After two and a half scoreless innings, Lane Flamm doubled the Xavier lead with the first of eight combined home runs between the two squads.
 
The lead than grew in the bottom of the fifth when Jack Housinger sent his first of two balls out of the yard, as the Musketeers tallied four runs in the frame to take a commanding 6-0 lead.
 
The Hoyas offense caught fire in the top of the sixth inning, chipping away with consecutive home runs by Jake Hyde and Cam Myer, before a grand slam by Andrew Ciufu placed the Hoyas in front 7-6.
 
The lead was short lived, as Xavier’s Tyler Demartino blasted the sixth home run of the game to give the Musketeers an 8-7, advantage. After the Hoyas evened the score in the bottom of the seventh it was all Xavier the rest of the way.
 
Including a pair of home runs, Xavier scored eight runs over the final two innings to secure the victory and earn the right to play Saturday night for a spot in the BIG EAST Championship game on Sunday at Noon ET.
 
For the day, Xavier batted .463 (19-for-41) with five home runs, while Georgetown finished 6-for-32 (.188) with three home runs.