Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 WASHINGTON – The Georgetown University softball team split a pair on the opening day of BIG EAST Conference play in a doubleheader against the Creighton Bluejays (10-10, 1-1 BIG EAST) at Nats Youth Academy. The Hoyas fell 14-5 in the opening game after a late comeback from the Bluejays, but GU battled back in the second game with a three-run homer to tie it and the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh. With the 1-1 record on the day, the Blue & Gray stand 8-22 overall and 1-1 in the BIG EAST.
 
Senior Sarah Bennett (Owings, Md. / Northern) dominated at the plate with three home runs between both games and brought in four RBIs. A trio of Hoyas had a pair of hits on the day, including junior Alexa Dolby (Round Hill, Va. / Woodgrove), sophomore Savannah Jones (San Rafael, Calif. / Terra Linda) and freshman Mae Forshey (Phoenix, Ariz. / Arcadia). Dolby hit the game-tying homer in the second game and brought in three runs with the hit. Jones and senior Kelly Amen (Hillsborough, N.J. / Hillsborough) each recorded a double on the day.
 
Junior Anna Brooks Pacha (Houston, Texas / St. John's School) pitched the first 5.0 innings in the opening game and allowed four runs off of four hits. She recorded a season high of 10 strikeouts, which advanced her to third on the list of most strikeouts in program history (388). Sophomore London Diller (Sugar Land, Texas / George Ranch) and juniors Katie Vannicola (Vienna, Va. / James Madison HS) and Casey Kozak (Marlton, N.J. / Bishop Eustace) rotated throughout the last two innings and gave up a combined 10 runs off of six hits.
 
The Blue & Gray opened up the scoring in the bottom of the first when sophomore Macy Cartwright (Naples, Fla. / Naples) advanced home after Bennett grounded out to first base. The Bluejays tied it up in the top of the third off of a double and had an opportunity to take the lead with bases loaded, but Pacha got the final out with a third strike and kept it even at one.
 
Bennett tallied her first homer of the day in the bottom of the fourth to take a 2-1 lead and Creighton answered in its next at bat with a homer to make it even again. The Hoyas took their biggest lead of the game in the fifth with a one-run double from Jones, who then scored off of a fielding error by Creighton to take a 4-2 advantage.
 
As the Hoyas struggled on the defensive end, Creighton went on a 12-run rally in the top of the sixth to take a 10-run lead. Georgetown scored one more run in the bottom of the inning off of Bennett's second home run, but it was not enough to come back as GU fell 14-5 in six innings.
 
Diller took the nod in the circle in game two and threw 5.0 innings of work. She allowed four runs off of six hits and struck out five. Freshman Cassie Henning (Atlanta, Ga. / Wesleyan) relieved Diller for the last 2.0 innings and allowed one more run.
 
The Bluejays took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third off of a hit to left, but Bennett's third and final home run made it even in the bottom of the fourth. Creighton scored three more runs throughout the next two innings to make it 4-1, but Georgetown fought back in the bottom of the sixth.
 
Amen started the rally with a sacrifice hit to right field and advanced junior Ciara Sullivan (Middletown, N.J. / Middletown South) to score on the throw. Next in the lineup was Dolby. With two runners on base, Dolby blasted it over the fence in right field and collected three RBIs to take a 5-4 lead.
 
However, Creighton tied it in its last at bat in the seventh with another home run. With Cartwright on third, Forshey finished the game strong for the Hoyas with a single to shallow left field and scored Cartwright to seal the 6-5 win.
 
The Blue & Gray will conclude the three-game series against Creighton on Sunday, March 24 at Nats Youth Academy at 11 a.m. Live stats will be available at GUHoyas.com.