WASHINGTON – The Georgetown University softball squad will host the third annual District Classic this weekend, beginning Friday, March 1, at its home field, Nats Academy. The Hoyas will host five teams, including Bucknell, Brown, Saint Joseph's, Harvard and Howard, over the course of three days.
Georgetown will play five games throughout the tournament starting on Friday at 1 p.m. against Bucknell and again at 3 p.m. against Brown. On Saturday, the Blue & Gray will take the field at 12:30 p.m. against St. Joe's and at 3 p.m. to take on Harvard. The squad will conclude tournament play on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. against Howard.
Live stats for all of the weekend's games will be available at GUHoyas.com.
The Blue & Gray holds an overall record of 3-11 and went 1-4 last weekend in the Madeira Beach Tournament, tabbing an 8-7 win in extra innings over Manhattan. Senior
Kelly Amen (Hillsborough, N.J. / Hillsborough) scored the winning run for the Hoyas off of a sacrifice hit from sophomore
NeNe Campos (Nogales, Ariz. / Canyon Del Oro). Additionally, sophomore
Savannah Jones (San Rafael, Calif. / Terra Linda) added three doubles on the weekend.
For the season, Jones leads GU offensively with a .450 batting average. The shortstop has recorded five doubles and three triples, as well as seven RBIs. Junior
Noelle Holiday (Bear, Del. / Red Lion Christian Academy) ranks second on the team batting .390 off of five doubles and three homers with 12 RBIs. Rounding out the top three on the squad is freshman
Mae Forshey (Phoenix, Ariz. / Arcadia), who registers a .362 batting average and has tallied four doubles and seven RBIs.
Bucknell is 4-5 on the season and finished the Liberty Softball Challenge last weekend with a winning record of 3-1. The Bison downed Valparaiso 7-1 and Delaware State 11-4, as well as shutting out Princeton 3-0. Pitcher Raeanne Geffert was named Patriot League Pitcher of the Week on Monday after pitching all four games over the weekend while recording 22 strikeouts and a pair of walks in 17.0 innings. Offensively, Anna Fairbanks leads the team batting .500 at the plate with four doubles and three RBIs.
The Brown Bears are opening up their 2019 season this weekend in the nation's capital. Last season the Bears finished 11-28 overall and 5-16 in conference. Meghan Wimmer will return for her final season after leading the Bears last year with a .398 batting average with nine doubles, a triple and seven homers, along with a team high 23 RBIs. Wimmer made 17 appearances in the circle and recorded 42 strikeouts in 72.2 innings to go along with a 6.36 ERA.
St. Joe's started out the 2019 season 4-1 in the Diamond 9 Citrus Blossom Classic. The Hawks found victories over Providence (5-1), Stetson (6-2), Bethune-Cookman (3-1) and Iowa (4-1), with their lone loss coming from Troy in the final game of the weekend 7-4 in extra innings. Carly Rybinski leads the squad at the plate with a .500 batting average and a pair of doubles. On Monday, Amanda Herr was named the Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week after going 2-0 in the circle with a 1.91 ERA.
The Harvard Crimson went 2-3 in their opening weekend in the Jacksonville Classic. The reigning Ivy League Champions defeated Delaware and Jacksonville 3-2 in both games on Saturday. Newcomer Teagan Shaw tabbed the game winner against Jacksonville with a three-run homer.
Howard is 3-11 on the season and is coming off of a 1-4 weekend in the ASU Black and Gold Tournament. The Bison defeated University of Missouri-Kansas City 4-3 in their last game of the tournament. At the plate, Kalita Dennis bats a team high of .442 to go along with four doubles, a triple and six RBIs. In the circle, Mckenzi Steel is 3-5 and has recorded 41 strikeouts in 58.2 innings.
Following this weekend, the Blue & Gray will head back to Florida over spring break for the Jacksonville Tournament. The Hoyas will play a midweek game against North Florida on Wednesday, March 6 at 5 p.m. and then will play five games over the course of three days, beginning Friday, March 8 until Sunday, March 10.
