JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – On the opening day of the JU/UNF Spring Break Challenge in Jacksonville, Florida, the Georgetown University softball team dropped a pair of losses to La Salle and tournament host Jacksonville. The Hoyas fell to the Explorers (2-4) in game one 5-4. In game two, the Blue & Gray dropped a 5-1 decision to the Dolphins (8-11) despite a late attempt to rally past JU. With the pair of losses, GU falls to 5-15 on the season.
Seniors
Kelly Amen (Hillsborough, N.J. / Hillsborough) and
Sarah Bennett (Owings, Md. / Northern) recorded two hits apiece on the day. Bennett recorded a home run in game one against La Salle and sophomore
Savannah Jones (San Rafael, Calif. / Terra Linda) and freshman
Cassie Henning (Atlanta, Ga. / Wesleyan) tallied doubles on the day. Junior
Noelle Holiday (Bear, Del. / Red Lion Christian Academy) brought in a team high of two RBIs.
Sophomore
London Diller (Sugar Land, Texas / George Ranch) started in the circle in game one, throwing 6.0 innings, allowing five runs, three earned, on 10 hits. She struck out four and walked two. Junior
Katie Vannicola (Vienna, Va. / James Madison HS) threw for 1.0 innings and recorded a strikeout.
The Explorers broke the game open early in the top of the second with three runs, but the Hoyas answered in the bottom of the inning with a home run to left field from Bennett to make it 3-1.
After La Salle scored another run in the next inning, Georgetown responded again and made it even at 4. With runners on first and second, freshman
Kiki Besnard (Irvine, Calif. / Northwood) found a spot in shallow right field to advance the runners and load the bases. With Holiday at the plate, sophomore
Deirdre Gallo (Shrewsbury, Mass. / St. Peter Marian) scored on a passed ball. Holiday then tied it up with a two-run single, 4-4.
La Salle took back its lead in the top of the fourth off of a throwing error committed by the Hoyas. The Blue & Gray battled at the plate in the bottom of the fifth when Jones got on base with a double. Besnard performed a sacrifice bunt and advanced Jones to third, but Georgetown couldn't find a way to score Jones to tie it.
The Hoyas struggled to make a comeback in its last two at bats as the Explorers sealed the 5-4 victory.
In game two against Jacksonville, junior
Anna Brooks Pacha (Houston, Texas / St. John's School) took the nod in the circle. Pacha threw 5.0 innings, allowing five runs off of eight hits while striking out three. Henning finished the game in the circle and retired one batter.
The Dolphins opened up the scoring in their first at bat off of a two-run double, followed by a hit to center field to take an early 3-0 lead. In the bottom of the third, Jacksonville scored another run off of a single down the middle to make it 4-0.
In the top of the fifth, Henning landed on base with her first career double and provided an opportunity to score for the Hoyas, but got picked off as she was turning third base to score.
Georgetown rallied in its last at bat of the game. Holiday's patient eye at the plate landed her a walk and Bennett followed up with a single to center field to advance the bases. Next up was Amen, who replicated Bennett's hit and loaded the bases.
With runners on every base, Diller singled to second and scored Gallo to put GU on the board 5-1. However, back-to-back strikeouts ended the inning for the Hoyas and made the final score 5-1 in favor of the Dolphins.
The Blue & Gray will continue tournament play on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. against Ball State and will face UNC Wilmington afterward at 4:30 p.m. Live stats will be available at GUHoyas.com.
