WASHINGTON – Sophomore Savannah Jones (San Rafael, Calif. / Terra Linda) landed three triples on Friday afternoon to lead the Georgetown University softball team to its first victory of the 2019 season. The Hoyas defeated the George Washington Colonials 7-2 in the season opener at the Gardner-Webb University Tournament in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. With the win, the Blue & Gray starts the season 1-0 while the Colonials fall to 0-1.
 
"I'm really proud of how well we put all parts of the game together," said Head Coach Pat Conlan. "We had quality at bats and clutch hitting, excellent defense and a super pitching effort. It was a great way to start the season."
 
Jones led the Hoyas offensively and went 3 for 4 at the plate with three triples and three RBIs. Freshman Mae Forshey (Phoenix, Ariz. / Arcadia) recorded a double in her collegiate debut along with junior Noelle Holiday (Bear, Del. / Red Lion Christian Academy). Junior Katie Vannicola (Vienna, Va. / James Madison HS) took the nod in the circle, recording her first win of the year. The pitcher allowed two runs off of eight hits while striking out four.
 
With three quick innings to start the game, the Hoyas sparked the scoring in the top of the fourth. Jones hit her first triple of the game to left field and was followed up by Forshey, who grounded out to shortstop but advanced Jones home to give GU a 1-0 lead.
 
Georgetown scored four more runs in the next inning to take a 5-0 advantage. Freshman Cassie Henning (Atlanta, Ga. / Wesleyan) started the rally for the Blue & Gray with her first collegiate hit to get on base. With junior Alexa Dolby (Round Hill, Va. / Woodgrove) and Henning on first and second, respectively, senior Kelly Amen (Hillsborough, N.J. / Hillsborough) bunted toward first and sent Henning home to make it 2-0. Up next was sophomore NeNe Campos (Nogales, Ariz. / Canyon Del Oro) who reached base off of a fielders choice and advanced Dolby home to add another run to GU's score. Shortly after, Jones recorded her second triple of the game and tallied a pair of RBIs, forcing a change in the circle for the Colonials as the Hoyas led 5-0.
 
With one more inning to go and Campos on third base, Jones hit her third and final triple, giving the Hoyas their final run. George Washington answered in the bottom of the seventh with a pair of runs, but Georgetown cut GW's rally off quickly after.
 
Both squads tallied nine hits and the Colonials committed three errors to GU's zero.
 
The Blue & Gray will continue the action of opening weekend tomorrow facing the Furman Paladins at noon and the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs at 4 p.m. Live stats will be available at GUHoyas.com.