This weekend, the Georgetown Hoyas softball team (13-33, 4-10 Big East) took on the Villanova Wildcats (22-17-1, 7-5 Big East) for a three game series. The series was played at Villanova. Unfortunately, the Hoyas were swept, and lost each game in fairly convincing fashion.
On Saturday, the squads played a double-header, and in the first game the Wildcats took a 5-1 victory. Sophomore pitcher Anna Brooks Pacha got the start for the Hoyas, and pitched well over five innings besides getting hit for a five-run fourth inning. Pacha struck out eight Wildcats, but also walked three and hit two. The fourth inning was emphasized by three doubles from Villanova freshman Angela Giampolo, senior Dana Morris, and senior Natalia Segovia. Sophomore pitcher Katie Vannicola pitched a scoreless sixth inning, but the damage had already been done during that labarous fourth for Pacha.
The Hoya offense had a rough go in game 1. Throughout seven innings against Villanova freshman Anissa Amarillas, Georgetown mustered just three hits and a single walk. They made contact, only striking out four times, but their batted balls just weren’t finding holes. Their lone run came in the seventh, when freshman pitcher Cartwright, who was pinch-running, scored on an RBI groundout from junior third basemen Kelly Amen. Despite a mostly strong outing, Pacha took the loss to fall to 8-12, and Amarillas improved to 13-10 with her dominant complete game.
In game 2, Villanova held the Hoyas to one run yet again in an 8-1 victory. Freshman London Diller took the mound for Georgetown, but was knocked around in a short start. Diller surrendered six runs on six hits over just three innings. Vannicola entered in the fourth and finished off the game while giving up two runs, a slight improvement from Diller. Segovia went 2-3 with a triple and three RBIs, and junior catcher Lauren Hanna went 3-4 with two RBIs.
The Georgetown bats were better in game two, but couldn’t get their baserunners home. The Hoyas totalled seven hits and left just four on base, but couldn’t put together a substantial rally. After freshman Taylor Rhinehart pitched the first 3.1 innings, Amarillas pitched the final 3.2 and did not give up a run. The top offensive performer for Georgetown was senior left fielder Theresa Kane who was a perfect 3-3 on the day with a triple and a run scored. Junior center fielder Mallory Belknap got her home with a RBI infield single in the first inning, but that was all the Hoya offense had. Amarillas picked up her second win of the day and improved to 14-10, while Vannicola took the loss to sit at 0-6.
On Sunday, the Hoya offense remained cold as Georgetown took a 4-0 defeat. Pacha pitched again for the Hoyas, and finished with an almost identical line: five innings with four runs allowed. Vannicola pitched a scoreless sixth, but once again, solid relief pitching was all for naught. In the first inning, Pacha gave up a solo shot to left field to senior shortstop Brittany Husk. In the fifth inning, Segovia and sophomore left fielder Caroline Jones notched RBI singles.
For the third consecutive game, the Georgetown bats were helplessly shut down by Amarillas. The freshman stud pitched her second complete game in as many days, but this one was a shutout. Amarillas gave up six hits, though none came around to score, and did not issue a single walk. Kane went 2-3 with a couple singles, but no other Hoya had multiple hits. Pacha fell to 8-13 and Amarillas added her third win of the weekend to improve to 15-10.
The Hoyas will travel to Omaha, Nebraska this weekend for another three-game Big East set with the Creighton Bluejays (22-12, 7-2 Big East), another formidable opponent. If Georgetown wants to improve upon this sweep at the hands of Villanova, the offense needs to wake up. Surely, they will be working on solving the slump this week. First pitch on Saturday is set for 1:00 p.m. ET. Follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter for updates and breaking news.
