Music City Classic
Friday, Feb. 6: Georgetown vs. Indiana State, 11:00 a.m.
Saturday, Feb. 7: Georgetown vs. South Dakota, 9:00 a.m.
Georgetown vs. UMKC, 11:30 a.m.
Sunday, Feb. 8: Georgetown vs. IUPUI, 12:00 p.m.

WASHINGTON - The Georgetown softball team is opening the 2015 season in Nashville, Tenn., at the Music City Classic where it will face four teams over the weekend. The Blue & Gray will suit up and take the field against Indiana State on Friday at 11 a.m. in the first game of the season.

The 2015 season consists of a full slate of 57 regular-season games including 16 homes contests for Head Coach Pan Conlan and her squad of 13 student-athletes. The schedule not only includes six tournaments, but features six teams that made the 2014 NCAA Tournament: Iona, Notre Dame, Fordham, Mississippi State, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville and DePaul, as well as two that are in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25, DePaul and Notre Dame.

The program is young, the inaugural season was played in 2006, but after winning a program- record 26 games last year the Hoyas' goal for 2015 is to not only increase wins, but reach the BIG EAST championship game.

"I think we were really excited with some of the things we did last year," Conlan said. "Unfortunately we didn't end the way we wanted to, so one of the things we have been focusing on this year is trying to make sure that doesn't happen."

The Hoyas were able to advance to the semifinals of the conference tournament, after making a second-straight appearance, but lost to St. John's, 5-3, putting an early end to the most successful season to date. Conlan believes that the 2015 squad has the ability to surpass the accomplishments of 2014 as they have something to prove.

Although the squad lost five letterwinners, including First Team All-BIG EAST selection Elyse Graziano, and has a small roster of 13 student-athletes this year, having versatile athletes such as senior pitcher Megan Hyson (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) in the lineup gives both Conlan and Hyson confidence.

"The seniors did contribute a lot to us last season," Hyson said. "But we've had freshmen come in this year and they're working hard, they fit well with the team and seeing the way that everybody cooperates in practice makes me feel like we're going to do really well."

"We're going to miss the production of those seniors," Conlan said. "However, we're hoping that those younger players now step up. I just feel like we picked up where we left off and I think we're in a better place now than we were a year ago."

The Hoyas' top returners includes Hyson, who led the team last season in batting average at .373, hits (50), RBI (32), slugging percentage (.634) and on-base percentage (.488). She also amassed a record of 15-11 on the mound with an ERA of 2.36. Lauren O'Leary (La Canada, Calif./La Canada) was also solid for the Blue & Gray, pitching 142.0 innings and posting an ERA of 3.65 over 29 appearances.

Samantha Giovanniello (Floral Park, N.Y./Floral Park Memorial), Alessandra Gargicevich-Almeida (Riverside, Calif./Martin Luther King), Grace Appelbe (Phoenix, Ariz./Xavier College Prep) and Taylor Henry (Front Royal, Va./Skyline) all bring experience to the field as well. The four student-athletes all started over 43 games last season and provided the Hoyas with 114 hits and 57 RBI.

The returners and last season's production didn't go unnoticed by the BIG EAST and resulted in the Hoyas being picked to finish third in the conference in the Preseason Coaches' Poll behind DePaul, who made the NCAA Tournament, and St. John's.

"To have your peers recognize how hard you work and how hard your kids are working and how far your program has come, to me, says a lot," Conlan said. "It doesn't matter how you start though, it is how you finish."

The Blue & Gray will have a chance to start strong, however, with meetings against Indiana State on Friday, games versus South Dakota and University of Missouri-Kansas City on Saturday at 9 and 11:30 a.m., respectively, and a Sunday matchup against Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis at noon.

Fans can CLICK HERE for team stats, schedules and roster as well as live statistics.