BASEBALL GAME TIMEGeorgetown (8-12,1-5) at USF (12-10, 3-3)When: Tonight, 7Where: Red McEwen FieldTV/Radio: Catch 47

The Georgetown Hoyas face the USF baseball team (12-10, 3-3) tonight at Red McEwen Field in a Big East battle that could prove decisive for either team making the postseason. The Bulls will be trying to get back on track after losing six of their last eight games, scoring less than five runs in six of those outings.

The Hoyas (8-12, 1-5) are as capable of getting 25 runs scored on them – which they allowed at home when Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish beat them 25-1 eight days ago – as they are of scoring 23 runs, as they did against Mount St. Mary’s in Maryland on Wednesday.

“Georgetown is going to come out ready to play. I’m sure that they are going to love the weather here,” USF coach Lelo Prado said after Thursday’s practice.

According to gousfbulls.com, freshman right-handed pitcher Randy Fontanez, who had outings of more than five innings in his last few games, is scheduled to start Friday night. Sophomore right-hander Matt Quevedo, who pitched six innings against Cincinnati on Sunday, gets the start Saturday at 7 p.m. and freshman right-hander Derrick Stultz will wrap up the weekend Sunday at 1 p.m.

“This series is critical for us if we want to win a conference championship. We let one get away last weekend at Cincinnati, but we are playing a lot better right now.” Prado said.

The Bulls will face Hoyas sophomore Tim Adleman and seniors Michael Gaggioli and Erick Chandler. Adleman is 3-1 with a 7.04 ERA in four starts. Gaggioli is 0-2 with a 2.86 ERA and leads the team with 21 strikeouts. Chandler has 18 strikeouts in five starts, posting a 0-3 record with a 7.92 ERA.

“We have a chance to get back on track. Winning three straight games this weekend would really help us. We are going to take each game one at a time, focusing on (tonight’s) game first. We have made too many easy outs lately, so we have been working at getting line drives and hitting the ball hard instead of getting pop-ups and strikeouts,” said USF shortstop Jonathan Koscso.

The series between the Hoyas and the Bulls will have a profound effect on the future of both teams. Whichever team loses the series is going to suffer a blow to its aspirations in the Big East Conference.

For USF, Georgetown will show Prado and his players whether they are contenders or pretenders.