March 26, 2011
Box Score
WASHINGTON - Jenna Stark (Huntington Beach, Calif./Orange Lutheran) hit her second home run in the last three games and Cara Savarese (Syosset, N.Y./Syosset) hit her first home run of the season as the Georgetown University softball team split a pair of games against Connecticut on a chilly Saturday afternoon at Guy Mason Field.
The Hoyas won game one, 5-3, and were done in by one bad inning in game two, giving up 11 runs in the sixth to fall by a final score of 14-6. GU's record now stands at 7-24, while UConn moves to 11-12.
Both teams lit up the scoreboard from the first pitch in game one. The Huskies scored two runs in the top of the first inning to take short-lived 2-0 lead, as the Hoyas scored three times with two outs in their half of the inning. With runners on second and third and two away, Stark tripled to the right field corner to score Shikara Lowe (Beaverton, Ore./Jesuit) and Alexandria Anttila (Antioch, Ill./Antioch Community). A sharp single through the left side by Savarese scored Stark and gave Georgetown a 3-2 lead.
UConn tied the game in the third, but again, the Blue & Gray responded to retake the lead. In the fourth inning, Savarese launched her first home run of the year over the right field fence, a solo shot, to put the Hoyas back on top, 4-3.
Mackensey Carter (Mission Viejo, Calif./Mission Viejo) would shut the door on the Huskies the rest of the way, holding them scoreless in the fourth through seventh innings. She allowed three earned runs in seven innings to earn her sixth win of the season. The junior also helped her own cause with an RBI single in the sixth. At the plate she was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Georgetown's bats stayed hot in the beginning of game two, as the team scored five runs in the first two innings. With Carter and Lowe on the bases after a pair of singles, Stark clobbered a three-run home run to left field to give the Hoyas a 3-0 lead. It was the freshman's second home run in the last three games and her five RBI on the afternoon tie her for the team lead with 12.
Andrea Huelsenbeck notched the first of her four game-two hits in the second inning and later scored on a single by Kim Silva to cut the Hoyas' lead to two, 3-1.
Georgetown pushed back immediately in the bottom half of the inning when back-to-back singles by Kristi Preuss (LaPlata, Md./LaPlata) and Callie Eward (Oak Hill, Va./Oakton) gave GU two on with no one out. Elyse Graziano (Floral Park, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) laid down a textbook sacrifice bunt to advance both runners to second and third and Carter ensured the Hoyas' strong fundamentals would be rewarded when she singled through the left side to score two and put her team up 5-1.
Carter was 2-for-4 in game two and 4-for-7 in the doubleheader to raise her season average to .327. Her three RBI on the afternoon give her 12 for the season and put her in a tie with Stark for the team lead.
UConn would inch closer with a run in the third and would eventually break the game open with an 11-run sixth inning from which the Hoyas could not recover. The Huskies would take game two, 14-6.
The three-game series wraps up with an 11 a.m. matchup tomorrow morning.
