Baseball opened up their home slate this weekend, beating Holy Cross two times in a three-game series.
After being swept in a three-game series out west against University of Southern California, the Revolutionaries handed Holy Cross two losses this weekend before losing the latter game of Sunday’s doubleheader. They dominated the Crusaders in the first two games, winning a combined score of 14-3 with both hitting and pitching on point.
GW recorded an 8-0 shutout against Holy Cross on Saturday, with junior Michael Foltz throwing 96 pitches and only allowing six hits over the course of seven innings. Junior pitcher Max Haug relieved Foltz in the eighth inning and also pitched a two inning shutout of his own, preventing any Holy Cross batters from putting runs on the board.
The Revs slowly built a lead over the course of the game, ending the fifth inning with a 4-0 advantage, stalling until the eighth inning saw a sudden surge in runs, with senior outfielder Sam Gates and sophomores Conlon Walker, Cristino Tufano and Robbie Lavey all crossing home plate. This doubled the Revs’ runs to a final score of 8-0, cementing the team’s first win of the young season.
GW once again took the win in the first game of their Sunday doubleheader against Holy Cross, with a more competitive score of 6-3. The Revs took an early lead of 3-1 in the first inning off of a double by sophomore catcher Jude Clough, followed by a homer by graduate student outfielder Ellis Schwartz.
Tufano helped account for the final three runs, with one run from Schwartz’s RBI in the fifth inning and two more from Tufano’s own homer in the fifth inning, giving GW a 6-2 lead. Holy Cross was only able to notch one more run in the eighth inning but was unable to take back the lead, handing the Revs the game.
In the second game of the doubleheader, a five-run seventh inning from Holy Cross helped deliver them a 8-2 win. A solo home run by redshirt sophomore first baseman Charlie Rogan tied the game in the bottom of the second, after Holy Cross got on the board in the first. Entering the seventh inning up 3-2, the Crusaders blew the game open, bringing home five runs off four hits and one error from the Revs. Despite nine total hits from GW, they couldn’t keep up with Holy Cross’ explosive run-scoring.
GW has 30 home games on the schedule, all of which will be played at Tucker Field in Barcroft Park, in Arlington, Virginia. Last spring, the Revs had their first winning season since 2021, ending the season with a record of 31-26 and making it to the A-10 Championships, where they won one of their three games.
Athletics officials announced in a Tuesday release that all home games will be free leading up to this season.
“This fan-friendly change aligns baseball with all other GW sports that compete outside the Charles E. Smith Center and are also free of charge,” an athletics department spokesperson said.
The team was ranked in fourth place by the A-10 preseason poll, only behind Virginia Commonwealth, Richmond and Saint Louis.
Several top performers returned for the 2025 season, such as pitching ace Foltz, who finished the season with a 5-1 record and holding opposing batters to a low .176 average. Graduate second baseman McGwire Tuffy and Lavey registered .322 and .259 batting averages respectively last season, proving themselves as valuable offensive weapons. Tuffy graduated and Lavey is back for his second year in the Buff and Blue.
Head Coach Gregg Ritchie hired a trio of new coaches last fall: Tanner Sinicki from Wilkes University and Adam Dofflemyer from University of Mary Washington, both hired as directors of pitching and player development, and Franklin Jennings from Army, hired as an offensive coordinator and director of defense. The team also welcomed 11 new recruits, four of which were ranked in the top 500 nationally.
GW will look to build on this series win in a stand-alone game against Georgetown at Tucker Field on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.
