WASHINGTON -

The Georgetown University softball team (5-11) will travel to the Tempe, Ariz. this week to take part in theLouisville Slugger Invitational hosted by Arizona State. Competition begins on Friday, March 11 when the Hoyas take on Ohio State (OSU) and Arizona State (ASU) at 2:30 p.m. and 10:15 p.m., respectively. Georgetown continues competition on Saturday, March 12 against James Madison at 5 p.m. before squaring off with ASU at 8 p.m. GU concludes play on Sunday, March 13 with a single game against Nebraska at 11 a.m. Live streaming and stats will be available for all games on the Louisville Slugger tournament page.

Georgetown's offense made its presence felt last weekend at the District Invite. The Hoyas went 3-1, defeating Maryland, Robert Morris and Columbia. Guiding GU's winning-performance was senior Samantha Giovanniello (Floral Park, N.Y./Floral Park Memorial), who was honored as the BIG EAST Player of the Week on Monday. Starting all four games, Giovanniello led the Hoyas with seven runs, seven hits and five RBI. Batting .700, Giovanniello also recorded the only home run in the District Invite's six games played at the Nationals Youth Academy. The senior holds a team-best five homeruns and is currently tied for fourth in Hoya program history for most home runs in a single season.

Overall, the Blue & Gray has six batters averaging .300 or higher. Giovanniello rates first on the team at .409 with 18 runs on 18 hits and a .864 slugging percentage. Junior Delaney Osterday (Oconomowoc, Wis./Oconomowoc) follows with a .400 batting average on two hits. Sophomore Theresa Kane (Mystic, Conn./Stonington) comes in at third with a .327 average, 17 hits and 21 runs. The Blue & Gray also gets some pop in the lineup from freshman Sarah Bennett (Owings, Md./Northern), who is batting .313 on the season with three homers and a team-leading five doubles.

In the circle, Giovanniello is GU's ace, having pitched seven complete games this season with a 4-6 record, including a shutout against Robert Morris in the District Invite.

Scouting Ohio State: OSU is paced by last week's Big Ten and NFCA National Player of the Week, senior Cammi Prantl, who is hitting .395 with 11 RBIs, nine runs scored and a .632 slugging percentage. Ohio State's pitching staff is tops in the Big Ten and 17th nationally with a 1.75 ERA. Over 84 innings, the group has allowed just 21 earned runs while maintaining a nearly 2:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (82 strikeouts, 44 walks). Amongst the five pitchers that have seen action, Shelby Hursh leads the way with 35.1 innings, a 1.39 ERA and 43 strikeouts. In addition to strong pitching, OSU has also been stellar on defense this year, ranking second in the conference with a .972 fielding percentage.

Scouting ASU: Arizona State brings an 18-5 record and a No. 21 national ranking into the tournament. The Sun Devils lost three times last weekend but own wins over eighth-ranked Tennessee and No. 24 Baylor.The Sun Devils hit .346 as a team and average 6.6 runs per game. Taylor Becerra (.436) and Nichole Chilson (.426) are both hitting above .400, while six other starters are batting above .300. Chelsea Gonzales leads ASU with six homers and 22 RBIs, while Nikki Girard has seven doubles and 21 RBIs. In the circle, Arizona State boasts a 2.65 ERA and allows an average of 3.1 runs per game. The staff is led by Kelsey Kessler, a Kansas transfer. Kessler is 7-3 this season with a 1.75 ERA in 64.0 innings.

Scouting James Madison: Ninth-ranked James Madison swept the CAA Player and Pitcher of the Week honors behind Niki Prince and Jailyn Ford. The team is led by a 1-2 punch in the circle of Megan Good and Jailyn Ford, who have ERAs of 0.79 and .0.85, respectively, while pitching all but six innings of action for the Dukes this year. The duo gets it done at the plate as well, with Ford batting .356 and Good at .344 with 25 RBIs between them, five home runs, two triples and 11 doubles. JMU is batting .322 as a squad while limiting its opposition to just a .166 average and has four wins against ranked squads this year with the lone loss coming in a 2-1 decision to then fifth-ranked Alabama.

Scouting Nebraska: The Huskers are 12-4 this season and 6-1 when trailing after five innings and 2-2 when trailing after six innings. Junior MJ Knighten is homering at a record pace, slugging 11 homers to lead the Big Ten and rank second nationally. Senior Emily Lockman, who has won six straight regular-season decisions, has allowed three earned runs or less in 10 straight appearances dating back to 2015. The Huskers rank fourth nationally in home runs per game (1.6) and 11th in total home runs (26).