WASHINGTON – Despite a late rally from the Georgetown University softball team in the bottom of the seventh, the Hoyas fell 12-4 on Sunday to the DePaul Blue Demons in the final contest of the three-game BIG EAST series at Nats Youth Academy. The Blue Demons swept the series and advanced to 26-9 overall and 6-1 in the BIG EAST while GU dropped to 9-27 on the season and 2-6 in the league.
 
Freshman Cassie Henning (Atlanta, Ga. / Wesleyan) led the Blue & Gray at the plate with a pair of hits, including a double, and brought in two runs for the squad. Freshman Kiki Besnard (Irvine, Calif. / Northwood) also recorded a double, her eighth of the season, and three other Hoyas tallied a hit on the day.
 
Junior Anna Brooks Pacha (Houston, Texas / St. John's School) took the nod in the circle and threw the first 4.2 innings. The junior allowed six runs off of three hits, walked six and struck out two. Junior Katie Vannicola (Vienna, Va. / James Madison HS) relieved Pacha for 1.1 innings and allowed one more run off of three hits. Henning finished the game for the Hoyas and gave up five runs off of five hits and recorded a strikeout.
 
Both squads struggled to get the bats going in the first few innings. The Blue Demons opened up the scoring in the top of the fourth with a two-run homer to left field and shortly made it 3-0 with a walk with the bases were loaded. In the top of the fifth, the Blue Demons took a 6-0 advantage with a three-run homer to left field.
 
The Blue & Gray entered the scoring column in the bottom of the inning. Senior Sarah Bennett (Owings, Md. / Northern) started it off with a walk and Besnard followed with a double to center. Up next in the order was Henning, who found a gap in the outfield and scored both runners on base to make it 6-2.
 
The Blue Demons responded in the top of the sixth with a double to center field, scoring a runner from second to take a 7-2 lead. Georgetown allowed DePaul to bring in five more runs in its last at-bat to make it 12-2.
 
The Hoyas rallied in their final at-bat, but it was not enough to catch up to the 10-run difference. With two outs and bases loaded off of a hit and a pair of walks, junior Alexa Dolby (Round Hill, Va. / Woodgrove) used her speed to beat the throw from shortstop to first and brought in a run to make it 12-3. With bases still loaded, sophomore Savannah Jones (San Rafael, Calif. / Terra Linda) found a gap in the outfield to advance the runners and made it 12-4. A third out ended the inning and sealed the 12-4 win for the Blue Demons.
 
Up next, the Hoyas will play a midweek matchup against the Towson Tigers on Wednesday, April 10 at 3 p.m. in Towson, Maryland. Live stats will be available at GUHoyas.com.