On Friday, April 3, Georgetown softball (12-13, 5-6 BIG EAST) took on the Seton Hall University Pirates (13-19, 3-11 BIG EAST) at the Mount Vernon Athletic Complex. After beating the Pirates just 2-1 the day before, the Hoyas came out with something to prove—and showed up for a resounding 8-0 six inning win.
The Hoya bats were hot from the beginning when lead-off batter and junior infielder Brook Rebhan sent the third pitch down the right field line for a double. The next Hoya batter, senior outfielder Gabby Park, also made contact and reached first base, with Rebhan advancing to third due to an error by Seton Hall senior pitcher Kyra Kreuscher.
On the next pitch, Park took off for second base. Not only were the Pirates unsuccessful at throwing her out, but Rebhan used the opportunity to steal home and put the Hoyas on the board 1-0.
The Pirates managed to end the inning without more scoring, though they couldn’t stop the Hoyas for long. In the bottom of the second inning, with one out and one baserunner, sophomore infielder Nina Sarlo entered the batter’s box. After going down 1-2 in the count, Sarlo launched the ball over the left field wall and into the trees for a two-run homer, bringing the score to 3-0.
Offensively, Seton Hall couldn’t generate any momentum. The Pirates recorded only two hits in the first five innings, and never advanced past first base. The same could not be said for the Hoyas.
After two scoreless innings, Georgetown came out hot in the bottom of the fifth. Senior infielder Dayanara Campos singled to right field, and then advanced to second on freshman infielder Taylor Francis’ walk. While the Hoyas’ next batter hit into a fielder’s choice that got out Campos at third, two Hoyas were still on base with two outs in the inning when freshman catcher Devyn Johnson came up to bat. In a hit almost identical to Sarlo’s earlier, Johnson drilled the ball over the left field wall for a three-run home run. Johnson’s run made the score 6-0 Hoyas with two innings left to play.
In the top of the sixth, Seton Hall looked for a second like they might show signs of life with a double to center field from junior outfielder Katey Brennan. Unfortunately for the Pirates, Brennan had no shot of reaching home as the Hoyas reached three outs with a pop-up from the next batter.
By the bottom of the sixth inning, the wheels completely came off for the Pirates. Park once again reached first base on an error by sophomore pitcher Rachael Schumann, then stole second. Schumann then walked Campos, and redshirt freshman infielder Ally Pearce singled to load the bases.
With the bases loaded, Francis singled into the outfield to score Park and bring the game to 7-0. Then, with two outs recorded, Schumann walked in the final run of the game to make the score 8-0. After this play, the eight point score differential enacted the mercy rule, ending the game after six innings.
Friday’s win marks the first time this season that Georgetown recorded consecutive wins against the same opponent. Beyond that, this is an important conference victory. Currently, Georgetown is No. 6 in the BIG EAST conference standings—a dramatic improvement from their last place finish last season where they recorded just two conference wins.
Looking ahead to the rest of the regular season, Georgetown has a difficult conference schedule over the next four weeks. They are slated to play series against Creighton University, Butler University, Providence College, and the University of Connecticut—the top four teams in the BIG EAST.
Georgetown looks to sweep the Pirates on Saturday, April 4, at 12 p.m. EST before going on the road on Wednesday, April 8, against the University of Maryland (13-10, 1-12 Big Ten).
