Four wins in two days is a feat for any team, in any sport. But for Georgetown softball, a team playing just its third season on the Hilltop, it is beyond impressive. With doubleheader sweeps against LaSalle and cross-town rivals George Washington on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Hoyas (15-23) have already surpassed their win total from a season ago.
“This team is starting to believe that we can compete at this level,” Head Coach Pat Conlan said after the game. “We just want to get better. Every time we get out there we want to get better, but we are in this business to win ballgames.”
After taking the first game with the Colonials yesterday afternoon, the Hoyas came out swinging in the nightcap under the lights at Guy Mason Field. With runners on the corners in the bottom of the first, sophomore shortstop Samantha Peters ripped a triple down the left field line to give the Hoyas an early 2-1 lead. Freshman catcher Jillian Webb kept it going two batters later, lining an RBI double off the wall in center. Georgetown would get one more in the opening inning for a 4-1 lead.
“Our bats have really come alive in the last few weeks,” Conlan said. “That’s an exciting thing.”
The Hoyas looked dangerous again in the third, loading the bases for second baseman Jadig Garcia, but the sophomore grounded out to the pitcher to end the rally.
With the Georgetown bats cooled, the Hoyas relied on two key defensive plays by sophomore outfielder Sarah Kamenski to keep the Colonials in sight at 5-4. The speedy Kamenski had her third of the outfield covered, recording the first out of the fourth inning on a pop-up in shallow left and running down the last at the wall in deep left center.
The top of the order came to bat for Georgetown in the fourth, and the meat of the Hoya line-up came through. Sophomore infielder Demetria Cipriano led-off with a solo shot over the left center wall to tie the game at 5-5, and freshman infielder McKinley Cooper kept the rally going with an infield single before Peters blew it open with a two-run bomb.
The Hoyas would pick-up three more runs in the sixth for a little breathing room, but the Colonials weren’t finished. Georgetown needed one more out to end the game, but with a full-count, Connell walked the bases loaded. With the table set for Chrysanthi Halkiotis to be the hero of the game, the senior answered the call with a game-tying grand slam over the centerfield wall.
“Here we go again,” Conlan said of the play. “I’d say it’s the fourth or fifth time we’ve been leading in the last inning and given up a homerun.”
But Peters wouldn’t let her team sulk for very long. The clutch sophomore started the bottom of the seventh with a lead off double, putting the game-winning run on second base.
“Sam Peters is a terrific ball player,” Conlan said of the shortstop. “Talk about clutch, first pitch bang and a double, saying ‘you know what? We are going to win this game.’”
Freshman outfielder Aimee Moffat sealed the deal moments later, doubling off the centerfield wall to give the Hoyas the 11-10 victory, their fourth in 48 hours.
