Facing two teams with a combined record of 36-9, Georgetown Head Coach Pat Conlan knew her young team (8-27) was caught in one of its toughest stretches of the season.
“Anytime you play a better team, you learn something,” she said after the Hoyas dropped three games against Liberty and Hampton at the Blue Ridge Tournament in Lynchburg, Va. “I think the most important thing we can take from those games is that we belong on the same field.”
In its first game in the tournament, Georgetown faced Liberty in what the Flames quickly turned into an offensive clinic. Liberty recorded a season-high 15 hits on its way to a 10-1 victory. Two early home runs by senior second basemen Dawn Jeffs and senior centerfielder Jessica Moore gave the Flames a 5-0 lead. Georgetown freshman second basemen Jadig Garcia started the fourth inning with a single and advanced to second on a throwing error. The next two batters grounded into fielder’s choices, allowing Garcia to score the Hoyas’ lone run and cut the lead to 5-1.
Liberty kept its offensive production going in the sixth inning by adding three runs, followed by two more in the seventh. The Flames’ senior Terra Lowe held Georgetown to four hits and no earned runs for the victory.
Georgetown regrouped and faced Hampton in a pitchers’ duel. Freshman Jennifer Connell had a no-hitter going through three innings, but in the bottom of the fourth Hampton hit back-to-back home runs for its only two hits of the day. The two runs would be all Hampton needed to shut out Georgetown, 2-0. Freshman infielder Olivia Newhouse had the Hoyas’ lone hit.
Conlan said her team needs to be more aggressive at the plate and work to get ahead in counts.
“Quite often we fall behind in the count and our swings become very defensive,” she said. “Better pitch selection will help in that area. Swinging at good pitches increases your chances of making good contact.”
In its final game of the tournament, Georgetown faced Liberty again with much the same results. Liberty took a commanding 5-0 lead in the first inning that it never let up.
Hoyas junior Katherine Lang led off the third inning with a single. She would score when freshman Demetria Cipriano hit a two-run home run, the first of her career, to cut the lead to 5-2.
Liberty scored five more runs in the fifth inning for a 10-2 victory. The Eagles went on to beat Howard 4-3 for the tournament championship.
After a week of losses against tough competition, Conlan said her team learned a lot.
“This team never gives up,” Conlan said. “We are knocking on the door of victory, and if you keep knocking, sooner or later someone answers. We are moving in the right direction and I couldn’t be happier with how these girls are responding.”
Next up for Georgetown is UMBC today at Guy Mason Field, where the Hoyas hope to end a five-game losing streak. First pitch in game one of the double-header is set for 2 p.m.