Georgetown dropped two out of three games this past weekend in the Elon Tournament in Burlington, N.C. The Hoyas fell to 4-9 on the young season.
However, on a sunny and warm afternoon in the Tar Heel State, Georgetown got off to a strong start in its first of three games on the weekend. In an afternoon matinee on Saturday, the Hoyas rode the right arm of sophomore Jennifer Connell to victory in a 1-0 thriller over Binghamton University. The Roswell, Ga., native tossed a complete game shutout and struck out five along the way.
After five scoreless innings, sophomore Suria Bahadue got the ball rolling with a one-out walk in the sixth. Sophomore Sarah Kamenski pinch ran for Bahadue, Kamenski stole second and sophomore Olivia Newhouse singled in what turned out to be the game-winning run.
In the second game of the day, the Hoyas lost a heartbreaking 2-1 to James Madison in eight innings. For the third time this season, Georgetown was forced to endure the wrath of the international tie-break rule, which places a free runner on second base to begin every inning after the seventh. After a wasted opportunity in the top of the eighth when GU stranded Kamenski, a sacrifice bunt and a walk-off sacrifice fly handed the Dukes a 2-1 victory. Freshman Melissa Conners pitched well, allowing just one run on three hits in 4.2 innings. She earned a no-decision, and Connell took the loss, allowing an unearned run on three hits over three innings.
Sunday provided a key opportunity for the Hoyas to finish the weekend and return home with some momentum, but the team’s rally fell short 6-3 in a matchup with the host of the tournament, Elon University. Connell again pitched a complete game for the Hoyas, but in this instance, she found tougher luck against an experienced Elon lineup. Connell allowed six runs, three earned, over six innings. After falling down 4-0 early, the Hoyas tacked a run on in the fifth and added two more, thanks to a double from freshman McKinley Cooper in the sixth, to cut the lead to 4-3. Unfortunately, Elon countered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the sixth and held the Hoyas scoreless in the top of the seventh.
GU looks forward to starting spring break early this Friday when they travel to El Paso, Texas, for the UTEP Tournament. The Hoyas will face Binghamton in a rematch of Saturday’s 1-0 duel Friday at 9 a.m.