After a perfect opening weekend to the Big East season, the Georgetown softball team will continue conference play this Saturday and Sunday against Creighton in Nebraska.

The Hoyas (12-12, 3-0 Big East) and Creighton (19-10, 2-0) are two of the four teams who are sll undefeated following their opening series; all four Big East matchups were sweeps.

“Anytime that you can get yourself a good start, put a few wins in the ‘W’-column, there’s a confidence that goes along with that,” Head Coach Pat Conlan said. “Every game that we play from here on out is an important one, and I just think that this is kind of a good springboard for Creighton, which is going to be a tough weekend for us.”

Georgetown is coming off a strong series against Villanova, where it won all three games and outscored the Wildcats 21-5. Junior starting pitchers Megan Hyson and Lauren O’Leary combined for the three wins, and the Georgetown offense found a groove.

“We swung the bats better than we have all season, both power and average, and we just really did a great job making adjustments throughout the game,” Conlan said. “[Villanova] threw three different pitchers at us throughout the weekend, and I think our kids adjusted very well to all of them.”

Senior centerfielder Elyse Graziano was named to the Big East Honor Roll for the second time in her career after a big weekend, where she went 7-11 at the plate, scored five runs and stole two bases. The senior leads the team with 17 runs scored this season.

“[Graziano] was lights out this weekend,” Conlan said. “She was seeing the ball really well, she just was always on base, in the middle of every rally that we had and defensively she’s just a stud out there, and a great leader. She just brings a tremendous fire to our team and we’re better for it.”

Hyson also had a strong performance at the plate, extending her hitting streak to eight games and contributed a home run; she leads the team with a .380 batting average and 19 RBIs.

Creighton is coming off its own sweep of a weather-shortened series against Butler. The Bluejays displayed some serious offensive power in the series, winning 6-0 and 10-0, respectively.

Junior shortstop Liz Dike was Creighton’s top performer, hitting four home runs while knocking in nine RBIs. For her success last weekend, Dike was named Big East Player of the Week. The junior leads the team with 10 homeruns and 27 RBIs this season.

Creighton’s offensive performance against Butler was supplemented by an equally impressive effort from the defense and pitching staff. Senior pitcher Becca Changstrom struck out 27 in just two games and has a 1.404 ERA this season.

Conlan indicated that she will most likely send out an offensively minded lineup to counter the Bluejays’ quality pitching.

“I think from game to game depending on results and so on that can change, but we really like the lineup that we had [at Villanova], and we stuck with it for three games,” she said.

It will be the first matchup between Georgetown and Creighton with the Bluejays as members of the Big East. Conlan said that the main focus for the Hoyas will be on their own game, although she acknowledged that it can be advantageous to come into a conference game with a fresh slate.

“I’ve always said, we compete against the game, we worry about what we’re doing,” Conlan said. “Sometimes the good thing is we know nothing about [them], so our kids don’t go in with that preconceived notion of ‘Oh, this is Louisville or oh, this is Notre Dame.’ We’re just going to get off the bus and go play.”

This will be the Hoyas’ seventh week on the road, as conditions continue to prevent them from playing their home opener in Washington, D.C. Even practicing has been difficult on the muddy field at times.

“In the way the Big East schedule fell, we’re on the road an additional two weeks, so this is the longest I’ve ever been on the road, as a player or a coach,” Conlan said. “But I think our kids are handling it very well, I think we have a good time travelling.”