Despite a four-run comeback effort in the third inning to cut Towson’s lead to one, the Georgetown softball team failed to erase the deficit, falling to the Tigers 12-4 in six innings.

The Hoyas (10-20, 3-3 Big East) fell behind early when the Tigers (13-17, 2-3 Colonial Athletic) jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two innings. Georgetown recovered in the third inning by scoring four runs, but was unable to contain the Towson offense.

“No matter what the margin, it is difficult to come from behind,” senior catcher Gabriela Elvina said. “To avoid that, we’d want to attack early and often to give our pitchers some cushion down the stretch.”

Heading into the game, the team had another opportunity to play a team it had faced earlier during a February in-season tournament. Junior outfielder Theresa Kane spoke to the Hoyas’ improvements in the recent months.

“The team performed much better than we did last time we played them in South Carolina,” Kane said. “We made adjustments early in the game, but they strung their hits together better than we did.”

Freshman pitcher Katie Vannicola started on the mound and pitched the first four innings before freshman Casey Kozak came in on relief. Georgetown’s pitching rotation — which also includes freshman Anna Brooks Pacha — consists solely of underclassmen.

“All of the freshmen pitchers have worked hard on minimizing walks and free bases to the opponent, which is something we struggled with in the beginning,” Kane said. “They are trusting the defense to work for them and perfecting their strengths as individual pitchers. All three of them bring something to the table and we are most successful when we use all of their strengths together.”

Following the defeat, the Hoyas are set to travel to South Orange, N.J., to take on the Seton Hall Pirates (16-14-1, 3-3 Big East) this weekend. Elvina voiced her excitement about playing in her home state for the first away series in the conference.

“It’s on an all-turf field and we just played our last series on a turf field, so we’ll be used to it. We are tied with Seton Hall in the Big East, so this is a crucial series for us to take,” Elvina said.

Competition within the Big East conference has intensified as the season has progressed. Currently tied for third place in the Big East with a .500 conference record, Georgetown’s series against Seton Hall provides an opportunity for the Hoyas to separate themselves from the middle of the pack. Kane spoke of her team’s ability to comeback and its significance in conference play.

“We have had some wins this year in crazy comeback situations, as well as games where the game could have gone either way up until the last pitch,” Kane said. “There will never be a game that is over before it’s over. We are strong throughout the lineup and in the field, all the way through the last inning.”

The Hoyas are looking to surprise the Big East after making necessary improvements from last season. With 15 Big East games remaining, Georgetown has already matched its conference wins total from last year with three.

“We are a completely different team. We were swept by almost every team in the Big East last year, and now we’re tied for third — a spot that nobody expected us to be in,” Elvina said.

Georgetown heads to South Orange, N.J., to take on the Seton Hall Pirates for a three-game series beginning this Saturday at 12 p.m.