The back-to-back composition of a doubleheader can give a losing team an instant chance for redemption. It can also expose its inconsistencies.

The Georgetown softball team (10-14) got a little bit of both on Tuesday, losing 5-0 to Princeton (4-10) but then turning things around in its second game to win 6-2, giving freshman pitcher Avery Geehr her first win of the season.

“We played much better in game two. I think that that’s been the MO of our team; we’re a little inconsistent,” Head Coach Pat Conlan said. “We need to relax a little bit, we need to trust ourselves and just have a better mindset and the offense will come back to us.”

The Hoyas struggled to get anything going in the first game against the Tigers, whose freshman pitcher Ashley LaGuardia allowed only two hits over seven innings, both singles by Georgetown junior second baseman Samantha Giovanniello. Senior pitcher Megan Hyson took the loss for the Hoyas, allowing three runs in two innings, while fellow senior pitcher Lauren O’Leary gave up two more over five innings of work.

“I think offensively we’re struggling a little bit,” Conlan said. “I won’t take anything away from Princeton’s pitcher because I thought she did a really nice job of locating pitches and hitting our weaknesses.”

After just a few minutes to regroup, Georgetown took the field for game two, looking to break even for the day. The Tigers went up early again, scoring a run in the second inning. The Blue and Gray stayed the course, evening things up in the fourth. The Tigers then scored in the fifth to take a one-run lead.

“We did get scored on first, but I feel like our response was a lot stronger,” said senior first baseman Sophia Gargicevich-Almeida. “There was a lot more fight and urgency to overcome it.”

Georgetown overcame its deficit in grand fashion, exploding for five runs in the fifth inning. A bases-loaded walk followed by a fielder’s choice put the Hoyas up by one. Gargicevich-Almeida then doubled in two more runs before coming around to score for a decisive 6-2 lead that would hold until the end of the game.

The Hoyas did not look at all like the team that only notched two hits in the previous game.

“Everyone was really locked in, really on board with fighting back, and it was just a matter of time. You’re hitting it hard the whole game and then finally you find some holes, and that kind of energy is contagious,” Gargicevich-Almeida said. “So I think that was a huge thing, where we all just worked as a team instead of trying to have one person do the whole thing all by themselves.”

Geehr pitched the complete game, allowing seven hits and two runs. It marked the first victory for the freshman in what has been a tough season where she was previously 0-6.

“She’s been working really hard and has been knocking on the door, so for her to get her first win, we were all super excited,” Gargicevich-Almeida said.

The Princeton series was the last in a nonconference schedule marked by freezing temperatures, cancelled games and extremely limited time on Georgetown’s home diamond, which limits a lot of opportunity for home-field advantage.

“The first time that we probably step on our field will be to play on Saturday,” Conlan said.

That is when Georgetown will face its first Big East opponent in Villanova, and Gargicevich-Almeida believes the team is ready, regardless of practice situations.

“It’s more the quality of the time we’ve had than the quantity, so I think it’ll be OK,” Gargicevich-Almeida said. “I’m really confident that we’re going to be fine and our team’s going to come together and be really strong, especially as these next couple weekends go on.”

Last year, Georgetown was 12-8 in the Big East and lost in the tournament semifinals to St. John’s. This year, the Hoyas were selected third in the preseason poll. Conlan believes they can go all the way as long as they iron out their inconsistencies.

“I think anything less than a Big East championship would be a season that we wouldn’t be happy with,” Conlan said. “We knocked on the door last year and I think that we’ve got the team to be able to do it. Our goal right now is to be able to put the pieces together.”