March 8, 2018
WASHINGTON - The Georgetown University softball squad heads to Phoenix, Arizona for the weekend to play five games over a three-day slate for the Grand Canyon University Invitational. The Hoyas currently hold a 5-13 mark on the season, after falling to Arizona State on Wednesday evening, 13-0.
The tournament will begin on Friday with a doubleheader against Grand Canyon at 7 p.m. EST and at 9 p.m. EST. On Saturday, GU will face Iowa at 1 p.m. EST and then Minnesota at 6 p.m. EST. The tournament will conclude on Sunday at noon EST against Iowa.
Live stats will be available for all of the games on www.GUHoyas.com. Live streaming will be available for Friday's games against GCU.
Georgetown went 2-2 this past week, including Wednesday's loss against ASU. The Hoyas were shut out by the Sun Devils, 13-0. Over the weekend, the Blue & Gray hosted five teams in the District Classic at Nationals Youth Academy in Washington, D.C., the official new playing field for the softball team. Georgetown lost its first game on Saturday to Columbia, 10-4, but came back in the next game against Howard, 9-1. On Sunday, the Hoyas dominated UMBC, 7-2.
Freshman Savannah Jones (San Rafael, Calif./Terra Linda High School) leads the team with five doubles and 10 RBIs. Jones has had seven runs and 18 hits this season. Sophomore Anna Brooks Pacha (Houston, Texas/St. John's School) is 3-6 in the circle. On Sunday's win over UMBC, Pacha gave up five hits, two runs and struck out 11.
GCU is 14-10 this season and won Tuesday's doubleheader against Valparaiso, finishing 2-1 in the first game and 6-2 in the second. The Lopes went 3-2 over the weekend in the Lopes Up Classic. In the three games that GCU won, the squad did not allow their opponents to score more than three runs in each game. Sierra Smith leads the Lopes, batting .423 with 21 hits, 33 runs, five doubles, three triples, three home runs and 24 RBIs.
Iowa (5-7) went 1-2 this week in the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, California. The win was against No. 8 Baylor on Sunday, 3-1. The Hawkeyes lost their other two games in the tournament against Stanford, 3-2, and Cal Poly, 3-2. Mallory Killian leads the team with a .333 batting average and has had four doubles, one home run and six RBIs this season.
Minnesota is currently 12-7 this season and went 2-3 in the San Diego Classic over the weekend. The Golden Gophers defeated Oregon State, 4-1, on Friday and Colorado State, 5-3, in the final game of the tournament. The squad dropped decisions to San Diego State, No. 22 Long Beach State and No. 3 UCLA. MaKenna Partain has recorded two doubles, two triples, three home runs and 17 RBIs this season while batting .365.
Following the Grand Canyon University Invitational, the Hoyas will play in their last tournament of the season in the Charleston Invitational in Charleston, South Carolina, March 16-18.
