There is no penalty for a bad win or prize for a good loss, but if the Hoyas ever had a good loss, it might have come yesterday. Against a talented and experienced Maryland team, the Hoyas (8-24) took the Terps to the final pitch in a 6-5 loss in eight innings.
Maryland took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third, but Georgetown responded quickly in the bottom half of the inning. Two walks and an errant throw loaded the bases as freshman Samantha Peters came to the plate. Peters found a pitch she liked and drove it deep to record the first grand slam home run in program history and give Georgetown a 4-1 lead.
“It was a shot. It was definitely one of the highlights of our season so far,” Head Coach Pat Conlan said of the grand slam.
Maryland cut the lead to 4-2 when junior Jenny Belak scored on senior Lindsey Klein’s single in the fifth inning. Georgetown held that advantage going into the seventh inning, but the experienced Terrapins did not panic and put up two runs on three hits to tie the game at 4-4. A scoreless seventh for Georgetown sent the game into extra innings.
The Terps scored two runs in the top of the eighth to take a 6-4 lead and all but ensure a victory over a less experienced foe. But the Hoyas were not done fighting. Freshman Jadig Garcia hit into a fielder’s choice to score junior Katherine Lang and narrow the deficit to 6-5. But with Garcia at second and one out, Georgetown was unable to bring her home, and Maryland held on for the victory.
Freshman Jennifer Connell pitched all eight innings, giving up four earned runs and recording six strikeouts.
Although the loss was tough, Conlan was pleased with the effort of her team and called it a step in the right direction against one of the toughest teams on the schedule.
“We did a lot of great things,” she said. “It was definitely a great game to build on.”
Georgetown travels to Lynchburg, Va., for the Blue Ridge Tournament on Friday and Saturday.