This week marked a historic time for Georgetown (7-22, 1-7 Big East), as the program picked up its first Big East win in school history. The Hoyas, who joined the Big East conference this season, had previously acted as an independent on the Division I level. After a lengthy home stretch, they traveled to Villanova to face the Wildcats on Wednesday. The Hoyas displayed no signs of homesickness, however, as they outlasted Villanova (15-9, 1-4) for a 2-1 victory.

“The team was very excited for their first Big East win,” Head Coach Pat Conlan said, who started the softball program from scratch only four years ago. “For many team members, it has been a long time in the making. A great deal of hard work, vision and commitment was needed to be able to compete within the conference so to finally win a game was exciting. . Hopefully it is the first of many to come.”

In the top of the third inning, Georgetown was able to capitalize upon Villanova miscues to jump out to an early 2-0 advantage. After junior third baseman Demetria Cipriano reached on an error, sophomore right fielder Kristi Preuss was hit by a pitch, giving the Hoyas two baserunners to lead off the inning. A wild pitch allowed Cipriano and Preuss to advance into scoring position, setting the stage for junior shortstop Samantha Peters. Peters followed with a single up the middle, allowing both runners to score.

The Wildcats answered in the bottom of the fifth inning with an RBI single from freshman outfielder Shannon O’Brien to cut the lead to 2-1. However Hoya junior pitcher Jennifer Connell was able to mitigate the damage and escape the inning with the lead still intact. Connell proceeded to stifle the Wildcat offense the rest of the game, thus giving the Hoyas a final 2-1 edge.

Connell who tossed a complete game, was largely responsible for the Hoya victory. The junior, who pitched a no-hitter against Gardner-Webb earlier this season, held the offensive-minded Wildcat squad to only one run and three hits over seven innings. The win is Connell’s sixth of the season.

Conlan was thoroughly impressed by the team’s performance Wednesday.

“It was one of the few games this year where we put all phases of the game together at the same time,” Conlan said. “We had an excellent pitching effort by Jen Connell, [junior catcher] Suria Bahadue called a great game behind the plate, our defense made all the plays and we had clutch hitting to drive in the runs.”

The Hoyas hope to carry the momentum garnered from this victory to the rest of their conference schedule.

“If we can continue to do that, I am confident this group will find success on the field,” Conlan said.

The second game of the doubleheader was canceled due to inclement weather. Poor weather has plagued the Hoyas thus far, as they have had four games canceled or postponed this past week due to rain.

Georgetown returns home today to host a doubleheader against the Providence Friars. The games will be held at Guy Mason field, with the first game scheduled to start at 2 p.m

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