April 11, 2011
WASHINGTON - The Georgetown University softball team returns to action on Tuesday when it hosts Longwood in an afternoon doubleheader at Guy Mason Field. The games against the Lancers, which begin at 3 p.m., will be the team's penultimate contests against non-conference foes and kickoff a nine-game homestand for the Blue & Gray.
The Hoyas (9-31, 3-5 BE) are coming off of a tough week in which they lost both games of a Wednesday doubleheader to Maryland and dropped below .500 in BIG EAST play after falling in a trio of games over the weekend against South Florida.
GU received strong pitching performances in all of its matchups last week, as senior Melissa Conners (Wellington, Fla./Wellington) and junior Mackensey Carter (Mission Viejo, Calif./Mission Viejo) made it difficult on opposing batters. Conners, who only gave up three earned runs in two starts last week, has a 0.93 ERA in her last five appearances, allowing a total of three earned runs in her last 22.2 innings pitched. Against USF, Carter posted a miniscule 1.24 ERA, starting twice and giving up two earned in 11.1 innings in the circle. She is third in the BIG EAST in innings pitched (132.1).
Freshman Jenna Stark (Huntington Beach, Calif./Orange Lutheran) has propelled the squad's offense over the last month, raising her average to a team-leading .320. She has batted better than .400 in each of the last three weeks and has gone 20-for-42 (.476) in Georgetown's last 14 games. Stark is currently on a six-game hitting streak, one off of her season high, and has a base knock in 13 of the Hoyas' last 14 games.
Carter leads the team in both home runs (4) and RBI (14) while sophomore Shikara Lowe (Beaverton, Ore./Jesuit) (3 HR, 11 RBI) and Stark (2 HR, 13 RBI) are not far behind in the power categories. Junior Cara Savarese (Syosset, N.Y./Syosset) is tops on the Hoyas, and tied for eighth in the BIG EAST, with nine doubles, while freshman Alexandria Anttila (Antioch, Ill./Antioch Community) also finds her name on the conference leaderboard, topping all in sacrifice bunts with 13, six more than the three players tied for second place. Anttila is also fourth on the team in RBI (10).
Longwood has won four straight games and eight of its last nine outings. The Lancers swept Charleston Southern in a pair of games on Sunday, winning by scores of 7-5 and 3-1. The team is 23-8 overall and 4-2 in away contests.
Brooke Short (.392), Jordan Cox (.337) and Nichole Simmons (.319) are Longwood's offensive leaders. Short also paces her squad in home runs (10) and RBI (33) while Simmons leads in doubles (6) and runs (23). Briana Wells has started 27 of the team's 31 games at pitcher, posting a 20-8 record with 117 strikeouts and a 2.24 ERA.
Georgetown and Longwood have met 10 times previously, with the Lancers holding a 9-1 all-time advantage in the series. The Hoyas, however, are 1-1 against Longwood at Guy Mason Field, picking up their lone win in a 6-5 victory in Washington, D.C. in 2009.
