Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Softball | Technicality Takes Runs Off the Board in Loss

There hasn’t been much to celebrate on the diamond recently, and the Hoyas had a brief moment of happiness taken away from them in the second game of their recent Towson series.

The Georgetown softball team (12-22, 2-5 Big East) is currently enduring a seven-game losing streak dating back to March 25. The Hoyas were shut out by Towson (19-16, 2-7 CAA) Wednesday night in the first game of a doubleheader and then lost the second game after a 9-5 lead was discounted when the game was called due to darkness.

In the latter game, Georgetown was losing 5-4 at the end of five innings when the game went to the sixth. In that inning, the Hoyas scored five runs to take the lead, but before the Tigers could play the bottom of the inning, the umpires called the game because of darkness. Consequently, the score reverted back to the last completed inning, handing Georgetown a 5-4 loss.

“It’s obviously very disappointing because [of how] our team competed and how we lost the lead and how we were able to fight back, so it’s unfortunate that we don’t have anything to show for it,” Head Coach Pat Conlan said.

It was a major blow for a team that desperately needed a win and came close to earning one. Towson had gotten on the board early with an inside-the-park home run. The Hoyas responded with some power of their own in the second inning when junior left-fielder Grace Appelbe blasted a three-run shot out of the park. Appelbe’s home run, her third of the season, gave the Blue and Gray a 3-1 advantage.

Both sides were quiet for the next two innings, but the fifth inning proved to be explosive. In the top of the inning, Georgetown added another run on a sacrifice fly from sophomore catcher Gabriela Elvina to increase its lead to 4-1.

In the bottom of the inning, the first two Tigers batters reached base on walks before a run scored on an RBI single. Three batters later, a triple cleared the bases and gave Towson a 5-4 lead, which eventually marked the end of the game.

Senior pitcher Megan Hyson took the loss, allowing five runs and striking out five.  She is 9-10 on the season.

“I liked the fact that we didn’t get down when we lost the lead, and we stayed focused and got ourselves right back into the lead,” Conlan said. “While we didn’t get an actual W, there are definitely things we can take from [the loss].”

In the first game of the doubleheader, freshman pitcher Avery Geehr took the loss in the circle for the Hoyas, bringing her season record to 1-9. Tigers pitcher Missy McCormick got the win after pitching five shutout innings and allowing only two hits.

“I felt the Towson pitcher did a really nice job,” Conlan said. “She stayed ahead in the count and she threw the ball fairly hard and hit her spots, and I think she did a good job controlling our offense.”

Georgetown’s results in the doubleheader follow a trend going back to the team’s Easter weekend at St. John’s (14-13, 6-0 Big East), when the Hoyas dropped all three games of the Big East series by a combined total of 18 runs. The Red Storm offense was relentless, and the Hoyas struggled to stay close in their first two games, losing 12-2 and 6-0 before falling in the third game 7-5.

“We have to be able to preserve a lead,” Conlan said. “We lost a big lead against St. John’s, we lost a lead yesterday against Towson, so when we work hard and we get a chance to get ahead, we need to figure out how to preserve that.”

Georgetown is looking to make adjustments in pitching and on offense for its weekend series against Big East rival DePaul (13-17, 5-0 Big East), a team that is undefeated in conference play.

Conlan said she is hoping for more consistent pitching to take pressure off the defense, which would limit errors and make for more efficient innings.

“We’ve just been very inconsistent, and we’re not doing anything great. We’re very average on offense and very average on defense right now and very average on the mound and we just have to be better,” Conlan said.

The Georgetown-DePaul series kicks off at noon on Saturday at Guy Mason Field.

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