April 21, 2011
WASHINGTON - The Georgetown University softball team will play its penultimate home series of the season when it hosts Seton Hall this Friday and Saturday for a trio of games at Guy Mason Field. A doubleheader for tomorrow is scheduled to kick off at 11 a.m. while the final game in the set will begin at noon on Saturday.
Georgetown is currently in 10th place in the BIG EAST with a 4-6 mark in conference games and an 11-34 record overall. The Hoyas are 1-1 in their most recent conference contests, splitting a doubleheader against St. John's last Sunday. GU lost game one to the Red Storm, 8-7, and came back to win game two in five innings, 10-2, the program's first-ever victory against a BIG EAST opponent by way of the mercy rule.
The Hoyas are currently fifth in the BIG EAST with a 3.72 ERA in 10 conference games and are 10th in conference batting, carrying a .269 average into the upcoming series against Seton Hall. The team's 16 doubles against BIG EAST opponents is good enough for fifth in the league and GU's six doubles in a 7-1 win over Villanova on April 2 is the best in the BIG EAST in conference games so far this season.
Senior Melissa Conners (Wellington, Fla./Wellington) has been one of the top pitchers in the BIG EAST during conference play. In seven appearances she has a 2-2 record and is eighth in the league with a 2.28 ERA, allowing only nine earned runs in 27.2 innings.
Shikara Lowe (Beaverton, Ore./Jesuit) has led the Blue & Gray's offensive charge of late, batting .444 (8-for-18) in her last five games, with two doubles, six runs and six RBI. In BIG EAST games, the sophomore has 11 hits in 33 at bats (.333), which is good enough for third on the team. Junior Regan Page (Atlanta, Ga./Greater Atlanta Christian) is batting .417 in conference, including a 4-for-5 effort against St. John's last weekend.
Freshman Jenna Stark (Huntington Beach, Calif./Orange Lutheran) is hitting .419 in conference play and .320 overall on the season, both team-highs. Her 16 RBI are second on the squad and her seven strikeouts on the year are the fewest for players with at least 60 at bats.
Junior Cara Savarese (Syosset, N.Y./Syosset), Lowe, and junior Mackensey Carter (Mission Viejo, Calif./Mission Viejo) are the Hoyas' remaining top offensive threats. Savarese is second on the team in both average (.303) and doubles (9) and is fourth in total bases with 48. Lowe (.299) leads GU in RBI (17) and her 10 doubles are tied for seventh in the BIG EAST. Carter, who tied her career high by hitting her fifth home run against George Washington on Tuesday, leads the team in that category and is tied with Stark for tops in hits (39) and with Lowe for first in total bases (59). She also paces Georgetown in the circle, with eight wins and a 3.85 ERA. She is fourth in the conference with 151.0 innings pitched on the season.
Georgetown is looking to stay in the hunt for a berth in the 2011 BIG EAST Softball Championship against Seton Hall (13-26, 1-13 BE), who is coming to Washington losers of 13 of its last 14 games. Nalin Bennett leads the Pirates with a .277 average while Jen Metzger has a 5-8 record and 4.28 ERA in the circle. Michelle Reed has 13 steals in 17 attempts this year and is second all-time in Seton Hall history with 62 steals. Georgetown has never beaten the Pirates in six previous tries.
