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 | Georgetown Swept by Big East Rival Villanova

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GUHOYAS
Sophomore first baseman Noelle Holiday notched two hits in the three-game series against Villanova last weekend.

Despite three consecutive losses to Villanova (23-19, 7-5 Big East) in Philadelphia this weekend, the Georgetown softball team (13-33, 4-10 Big East) is optimistic about its chances of ending its season on a successful note.

“Mathematically, we’re still very much in a race for a bid to our conference [tournament],” Head Coach Pat Conlan said. “We have to win the rest of our games to do that.”

Sophomore first baseman Noelle Holiday notched two hits in the three-game series against Villanova last weekend.With six games left in the season, Conlan has noticed a great improvement in the team’s defense. This weekend, the defense allowed fewer than 10 runs in all three games against a competitive Villanova team.

While Georgetown had six or more hits in two of the three games, including five by senior leftfielder Theresa Kane, the offense struggled to convert those hits into runs. The team, as a whole, scored just two runs during the three games.

The Hoyas also committed a few costly defensive errors as well. They committed one error during each of the first two games against Villanova and two errors in the last game, while the Wildcats played error-free defense throughout the series.

Regardless, Georgetown’s improvement, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, has been steady. Conlan said that putting all the progress together in order to string together wins has been difficult during a hectic season.

“Unfortunately with the way our season has built, once we start to play, we don’t have any opportunity to get back out there and do a lot of practices … particularly with our class schedules and our travel schedule,” Conlan said.

Entering the last stretch of the softball season and finals season, Conlan said the team faces significant obstacles to its focus and performance.

“This conference scheduling, that’s just a side note you can’t schedule around,” Conlan said. “It’s so difficult, particularly with the spring sports … During finals season [players are] either on the road or at home pulling all-nighters right before [they] go on the field.”

Even with such challenges, Conlan believes that her players will be disciplined and committed enough to be able to balance their academic and athletic lives.

“We believe that academics and athletics complement each other with a very, very bright group of hard working girls on and off the field,” Conlan said. “Our team GPA is a 3.2. We have to work hard in the classroom. So next week will be one of those weeks where you sit down and say, ‘OK, what’s everybody’s commitment?’ Maybe we do individual practices, things like that.”

Georgetown has three conference games against Creighton (22-12, 7-2 Big East) in Omaha, Neb., this upcoming weekend. The first game is scheduled to start at 12 p.m. May 5.

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