Feb. 18, 2011

WASHINGTON - The Georgetown University softball team dropped its first contest of the 2011 season on Friday, falling to the Gamecocks of the University of South Carolina, 10-2, in five innings at the Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) Tournament.

The Hoyas (0-1) started off strong, as junior Mackensey Carter (Mission Viejo, Calif./Mission Viejo) led off the game with a single to right center and scored when sophomore Shikara Lowe (Beaverton, Ore./Jesuit) homered to put the Blue & Gray up 2-0. The blast was Lowe's second career home run.

Those two runs would be all that Georgetown could manage as South Carolina (4-3) stormed back to put six runs on the board in the bottom of the second inning. The Gamecocks' offensive outburst was aided by Hoya defensive miscues, as the squad committed two errors in the fourth and totaled five in the game.

Georgetown mounted a charge in the top of the fourth inning, as Lowe led off with her first career triple and freshman Jenna Stark (Huntington Beach, Calif./Orange Lutheran) reached base on a fielder's choice, but both were stranded and would be the last base runners the Hoyas would have in the game.

South Carolina scored four more times in the fifth inning to seal the victory.

Carter started the contest in the circle for Georgetown, lasting four innings and giving up three earned runs.

The team wraps up its season-opening doubleheader with a game against the host Eagles from FGCU on Friday night.