WASHINGTON – The Georgetown University softball team split a pair of games against Utah Valley (3-5) and UNLV (7-1) in the 2019 Boyd Gaming Rebel Classic in Las Vegas on Saturday. The Hoyas defeated the Wolverines 7-6 in the first game but fell to tournament hosts UNLV 9-2 later in the day. With the split, GU holds an overall record of 2-6 on the young season.
 
Junior Noelle Holiday (Bear, Del. / Red Lion Christian Academy) paved the way for the Blue & Gray with a combined four hits and four RBIs, including a two-run homer in game one. Senior Sarah Bennet (Owings, Md. / Northern) tallied three RBIs for the team and a home run against the Wolverines as well.
 
The Hoyas started the bats early in game one against the Utah Valley, taking a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. With freshman Mae Forshey (Phoenix, Ariz. / Arcadia) on base and Holiday at the plate, Holiday blasted a homer to left field and tallied a pair of runs for GU. Next up to bat was Bennett, who ripped another home run to right center making it 3-0.
 
The Wolverines entered the scoring column in the bottom of the second with a run but the Blue & Gray answered in the next inning adding one more to the board when senior Kelly Amen (Hillsborough, N.J. / Hillsborough) singled to left field and advanced sophomore Savannah Jones (San Rafael, Calif. / Terra Linda) home.
 
Utah Valley tied it up in the bottom of the third 4-4 off of a single and a pair of doubles. With bases loaded in the top of the fourth, Holiday's patient eye landed her a walk and advanced the runners on base, including freshman Kiki Besnard (Irvine, Calif. / Northwood), who made it 5-4 in favor of the Hoyas. Shortly after, with bases still loaded, Bennett singled up the middle and tallied two more runs for GU to make it 7-4.
 
With one chance left for UVU to fight back, the Wolverines hit a two-run homer but it was not enough to catch up, giving Georgetown the 7-6 victory.
 
Freshman Cassie Henning (Atlanta, Ga. / Wesleyan School) took the nod in the circle and allowed four runs off of six hits until junior Katie Vannicola (Vienna, Va. / James Madison HS) relieved Henning and gave up two runs also off of six hits.
 
In game two against the Rebels, the Hoyas scored first in the top of the first inning when Holiday singled through the left side and advanced junior Alexa Dolby (Round Hill, Va. / Woodgrove) to score. UNLV responded in the bottom of the inning and took a 2-1 lead, followed by three more runs in the next inning.
 
In the top of the third with Jones on second base, Holiday landed another hit and scored Jones, making it 5-2 in favor of the Rebels. The tournament hosts went on to score four more in the bottom of the fourth and both squads held its opponents from scoring the rest of the game.
 
Sophomore London Diller (Abilene, Texas / George Ranch) started off in the circle for the Hoyas, allowing five runs off of six hits while walking two and striking out two. Vannicola went 2.1 innings and gave up four runs off of four hits. Henning finished it off for GU, not allowing any hits.
 
The Blue & Gray will conclude tournament play tomorrow, Sunday Feb. 17, against UC Davis at 11 a.m. EST. Live stats will be available at GUHoyas.com.