It was like deja vu for Georgetown in the Big East opening series against Villanova (8-15, 0-3 Big East) in Philadelphia this weekend. For the second consecutive year, the Hoyas team swept the Wildcats in a three-game set to open conference play.

The Hoyas (12-12, 3-0 Big East) relied on their pitching duo of juniors Megan Hyson and Lauren O’Leary, as well as some offensive slugging to power them over their conference rival.

Georgetown easily won its two Saturday games 7-1 and 9-1 — a mercy rule ended the second game after just five innings — then battled in the final game on Sunday before breaking a tie to bring home a 5-3 victory.

The Blue and Gray didn’t waste any time making waves in the series, scoring four runs in the first inning of game one. After a pair of hits, senior second baseman Hannah Slovacek smashed a double to bring in a run, and Hyson, batting cleanup, followed with a three-run homerun. Hyson extended her hitting streak to eight games over the weekend hitting.

“Anytime you can score first and in bunches helps the other aspects of the game,” Head Coach Pat Conlan said. “Having a big lead takes pressure off of the pitcher and defense.”

Georgetown tacked on three more runs, including two on RBIs from sophomore third baseman Taylor Henry. Senior outfielder Elyse Graziano, who singled and scored the first run of the game, recorded the first four-hit game of her career.

“Elyse was on fire offensively this weekend,” Conlan said. “She is our catalyst and she is always somewhere in the mix when our team is scoring runs.”

Meanwhile, from the mound, O’Leary threw all seven innings, recording three strikeouts and allowing only one run.

In the second game of the doubleheader, both offenses scuffled until the third inning when the Hoyas opened the floodgates. Graziano walked and stole second, then sophomore shortstop Grace Appelbe singled, and a sacrifice fly from Slovacek scored Graziano. A Hyson double brought in another run, and sophomore outfielder Samantha Giovaniello homered in two more. Senior outfielder Alexandria Anttila followed with a homerun her own.

Villanova scored one run in the fourth off of a Georgetown error, but that was all it would get. The Hoyas added four more insurance runs in the fifth. Villanova scattered two errors in between four Georgetown hits, and the Hoyas led by a score of 9-1.

Hyson pitched all five innings, striking out 10, walking nine and allowing no earned runs.

“I think winning by the mercy rule is just putting a stamp on your performance of that game,” Conlan said.

At the same time, she knew it would not mean much if they couldn’t continue the momentum — something that the Hoyas have had trouble with — to open the final game.

“We can never take anything for granted. You have to be able to perform at the same level in each game no matter what the outcomes were in previous games. If you don’t hit, pitch or play defense, then you don’t win,” Conlan said.

Georgetown’s momentum continued in the third game. It scored a run off a Slovacek run in the top of the first but Villanova quickly answered with two of its own off of Georgetown starter Hyson. Georgetown tied it up in the second on Slovacek’s second RBI in as many innings.

The score was knotted at two until the bottom of the fifth, when a string of singles put the Wildcats up one. But the Hoyas immediately tied it up at three on an RBI from Appelbe in the top of the sixth inning.

“I thought we were so resilient. Yesterday was a fun game, but we struggled to push runs across,” Conlan said. “We left a lot of players on base. However, our kids never panicked. They kept putting pressure on Villanova until we were able to get the lead in the seventh.”

O’Leary came on in relief for the sixth and seventh, allowing one hit and no runs, and the Blue and Gray scored two runs in the seventh on an Villanova error to take the lead, and later the game, 5-3.

Hyson and O’Leary carried the Hoyas to all three wins, and their season ERAs currently stand at 1.89 and 3.09, respectively.

“I thought Lauren and Megan had excellent outings for us,” Conlan said. “Both were dominant, and Villanova could not get anything going against them.” Georgetown, with a .500 overall record and a 3-0 conference start, has put itself in good standing in the Big East. It is one of just four undefeated teams after the opening weekend. Conlan was excited about the series, but says there’s still a lot of work ahead.

“The name of this game is winning. That’s our mission and this weekend we did exactly as we set out to do. We are off to a good start, but we have a lot of season left.”