As the semester comes to a close on the Hilltop, so, too, does the Big East season for the Georgetown softball team (19-28, 8-8 Big East). Still sitting in fifth place in the Big East, the Hoyashave just six conference games left on their 2013 slate.

The Blue and Gray will play three of those games this weekend, as they travel to Kentucky with the baseball team for what is sure to be a challenging three-game series against No. 8 Louisville (42-7, 15-1 Big East).

“We have played a very good schedule,” Head Coach Pat Conlan said. “But I would [say] that Louisville will be the best team that we have played.”

Louisville enters the series following a surprising 2-1 loss to No. 19 Kentucky on Wednesday night; even so, the Cardinals have not lost in the Big East since March 29 and, prior to the Kentucky loss, had won 15 games in a row.
Louisville is dangerous on both sides of the ball. While its prolific offense averages over eight runs a game in the Big East, the pitching staff — led by junior Rachel LeCoq (15-4) and junior CaralisaConnell (24-2) — is allowing fewer than two runs a game in league play.

“Louisville can hit for average and power, run, play defense and have a quality pitching staff,” Conlansaid. “From top to bottom, they are a very explosive team.”

That said, Conlan noted that “we always focus on playing against the game, not the opponent.”

Georgetown comes into the series hoping to make up for last weekend’s somewhat disappointing performance against the Providence Friars (18-25-1, 4-10 Big East), when the Hoyas were able to take only one of three games on the road.

The Blue and Gray did not play a weekday game this week, which provided the team a chance to rest up and work on what Conlan stresses will be important for a successful series against Louisville: error-free softball and timely hitting.

“Eliminating small mistakes and adding a few clutch hits will help regardless of who we are playing,” said Conlan.

For Georgetown, qualifying for the Big East tournament for the first time in program history has been the goal since the start of the season, and now, with the end of the year in sight, it seems like a distinct possibility.

But that’s not to say that qualification will by any means be easy. The top eight teams of the 13-member Big East qualify for postseason play, and the Hoyas currently sit only 2.5 games ahead of ninth-place Pittsburgh. The task is made more difficult by the fact that several of the teams behind Georgetown in the standings have far easier remaining schedules.

If the Blue and Gray could manage a single win this weekend, though, it would significantly boost the team’s tournament aspirations.

Nevertheless, a level-headed Conlan insisted that she isn’t placing any particular importance on the upcoming Louisville series.

“All of our conference games are important, so no weekend is more significant than any other,”Conlan said. “However, we are coming to the end, and any win will get us one step closer to the conference tournament.”