April 21, 2014
Tuesday, April 22
George Washington at Georgetown | Guy Mason Field | 7 p.m. ET |
Thursday, April 24
Towson at Georgetown | Guy Mason Field | 3 p.m. ET |
WASHINGTON - The Georgetown softball team (20-20, 8-7 BIG EAST) will play under the lights at Guy Mason Field when the team hosts the George Washington Colonials (16-26-1, 2-8 A-10) on Tuesday, April 22 at 7 p.m. The Hoyas will then play at home on Thursday, April 24, as they wrap up a five-game home stand at Guy Mason Field against the Towson Tigers (24-18, 4-5 CAA) at 3 p.m.
GU holds a 4-3 series lead over GW with the two squads last squaring off on March 22, 2012, when the Hoyas shutout the Colonials, 1-0. The matchup against Towson on Thursday has twice been postponed this season due to inclement weather. The Tigers lead the all-time series, 5-4, over Georgetown.
Georgetown's 20-20 record is currently the second-highest win total in program history, one win shy of the mark previously set in 2008 and 2013. Forty games is also the deepest into the season that the Hoyas have maintained a .500 record.
Georgetown went 1-2 this past weekend at home in a BIG EAST series against the Butler Bulldogs. The Hoyas picked up a win in the first game of a doubleheader on Friday when senior Elyse Graziano (Floral Park, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) ripped a single up the middle in the ninth inning to break the 5-5 tie, giving the Hoyas the win on a walk-off RBI single. It marked the second time this season that GU walked-off at Guy Mason Field.
Graziano went 5-for-10 for the Hoyas in the three-game series as she led the team with a .500 batting average and .643 on-base percentage. The senior stole two bases, drew four walks, scored once and recorded three RBI. On the year, Graziano ranks in the top of offensive categories for the team and the BIG EAST. She is hitting .313 (second on GU, 14th in BIG EAST) with 15 stolen bases (first on GU, T-1st in BIG EAST) and a .407 on-base percentage (second on GU, ninth in BIG EAST) through the squad's 40 games. With just seven strikeouts, Graziano's strikeout rate is a minuscule 5.4 percent.
Junior Megan Hyson (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) sits atop most offensive and pitching statistical categories for Georgetown. Hyson leads the squad in batting average (.391), on-base percentage (.493), slugging percentage (.652), doubles (10), extra-base hits (17), RBI (27) and walks (22). In the circle, Hyson owns a 2.60 ERA across 140.0 innings with 16 complete games, four shutouts and 151 strikeouts, which all rank first for GU.
Sophomore Grace Appelbe (Phoenix, Ariz./Xavier College Prep), sophomore Samantha Giovanniello (Floral Park, N.Y./Floral Park Memorial) and senior Hannah Slovacek (Austin, Texas/Westlake) all hit at least .300 over the weekend. Appelbe tallied four hits against Butler in 10 at bats with two runs and two walks. Giovanniello record a three-hit performance in Saturday's second game, ending with four hits on the weekend with one RBI. Slovacek added three RBI on the weekend bring her up to 24 on the season, which ranks second on the squad, with a double and two singles in game one on Saturday.
George Washington won one out of four games last week. The Colonials split a pair of game with Hampton in Hampton, Va. before dropping two A-10 conference matchups at Saint Joseph's on Saturday, April 19. GW has four players on its squad who are batting at least .320 on the year, all of whom boast on-base percentages of at least .396.
After two weather-related postponements, the Hoyas will host the Towson Tigers on Thursday at 3 p.m. Towson played five games last week, winning four of them. The Tigers swept Howard in a two game series on Wednesday before taking two out of three from Drexel in Philadelphia, Pa. Towson plays Mount St. Mary's on Wednesday before traveling to Washington, D.C. for the Thursday matinee. Hailey Balk is hitting a team-high .395 in the squad's 42 games, one of four players hitting above .315. Three players own on-base percentages of at least .448. In the circle, Missy McCormick (13-7) has a 3.08 ERA across 125.0 innings while limiting batters to a .257 average.
Live stats will be available for both games at GUHoyas.com.
