MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. – The Georgetown University softball squad went 1-1 on the first day of the Madeira Beach Tournament in Madeira Beach, Florida. The Hoyas fell to Colgate (2-3) in the first game 5-0 but battled back in the second game against Manhattan (0-1) and came out on top 8-7 in extra innings. With the split, the Blue & Gray hold an overall record of 3-8 this season.
 
Sophomore Savannah Jones (San Rafael, Calif. / Terra Linda) had a team-high four hits between both games and went 3 for 3 against the Jaspers. The shortstop recorded a double against the Raiders and brought in a pair of RBIs. Freshman Kiki Besnard (Irvine, Calif. / Northwood) also landed a double in game one. Against Manhattan, freshman Mae Forshey (Phoenix, Ariz. / Arcadia) went 2 for 3 at the plate and recorded three RBIs in the win.
 
The Raiders started off strong and hit back-to-back home runs in the top of the first to take a 3-0 lead. The Hoyas tried to fight back in the bottom of the inning with Forshey and junior Noelle Holiday (Bear, Del. / Red Lion Christian Academy) on base with two outs, but a pop out from Besnard ended the inning.
 
Neither team could find opportunities to score until the top of the fifth when the Raiders scored on a sacrifice hit. With bases loaded and two outs, Colgate hit one toward sophomore second baseman NeNe Campos (Nogalez, Ariz. / Canyon Del Oro), who caught the fly ball to end the inning. Colgate scored one more run in the sixth inning off of a sacrifice bunt while Georgetown struggled to get the bats going, making the final score 5-0.
 
Junior Anna Brooks Pacha (Houston, Texas / St. John's School) took the nod in the circle in game one for the first 4.0 innings. Pacha allowed four runs off of five hits and struck out three while walking four. Sophomore London Diller (Abilene, Texas / George Ranch) finished the game and allowed one more run.
 
The Hoyas bounced back in game two against the Jaspers despite Manhattan's early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. The Blue & Gray answered in the next inning when Jones doubled to center and scored Besnard. Up next at the plate was Forshey, who singled to right center and brought in a run from Jones to make it even at 2.
 
Manhattan scored four more runs within the next two innings, but Georgetown remained resilient. In the top of the fifth with Forshey at the plate and bases loaded, junior Alexa Dolby (Round Hill, Va. / Woodgrove) scored on a passed ball to make it a three-run difference. Forshey then scored Jones off of a sacrifice hit to center field.
 
With GU down by two, Dolby singled past shortstop in the top of the sixth and scored senior Kelly Amen (Hillsborough, N.J. / Hillsborough) to make it 6-5. Jones made it even at 6 with a hit to left field to bring freshman Cassie Henning (Atlanta, Ga. / Wesleyan) home and take the lead. However, the Jaspers answered in the bottom of the inning with a homer and forced both teams into extra innings.
 
It didn't take long for the Hoyas to score the winning run. Campos popped up to right field in the top of the eighth with Amen on third, who advanced on the throw and scored the game winner for Georgetown at 8-7.
 
In the circle, junior Katie Vannicola (Vienna, Va. / James Madison HS) took the nod. The pitcher went 3.0 innings and allowed four runs off of eight hits while striking out a pair of batters. Diller relieved Vannicola for the last 5.0 innings and allowed three runs off of eight hits.
 
The Blue & Gray will return to action Saturday at 11 a.m. to take on North Florida and again at 1:30 p.m. against Albany. Live stats for both games will be available at GUHoyas.com.