This year is the Georgetown softball team’s 10th season on the Hilltop. It took the Hoyas three years to get into the Big East conference. It would be four more years before it made the playoffs. Last year, the team advanced to the semifinals. Now, the Hoyas have their eyes on something more.

Head Coach Pat Conlan is excited for the opportunities that this season presents.

“It’s about being able to redeem ourselves, to get ourselves to the Big East tournament again and compete for a championship,” Conlan said.

Conlan, who has coached the team since its inception in 2005, has seen steady upward improvement every year and feels that the Hoyas have what it takes to win a title.

“I think that our goal — and my goal in 2006 — was to someday win a Big East championship,” Conlan said. “We couldn’t talk about that in 2006; we could barely talk about winning. But today, we can.”

Georgetown came tantalizingly close last year; it lost by two runs against St. John’s in the semifinals after compiling its first winning season in history. This year, the Hoyas were selected to finish third in the 2015 Big East Preseason Coaches’ Poll.

Much of the credit for Georgetown being recognized as a formidable threat can be given to senior pitcher Megan Hyson, who leads the Hoyas on the mound and at the plate and is returning for her final season.

She led the team last year with a .373 batting average and 32 RBIs while compiling a team-best 2.36 ERA and pitching a no-hitter and six shutouts. Hyson earned Big East Player of the Week on March 31 of last year, and was also named Big East Pitcher of the Week twice.

“She’s a tremendous athlete, great leader for us, and just takes care of business,” Conlan said of Hyson. “She’s just somebody who can do a little bit of everything for us and we’re hoping that she picks up where she left off last season.”

In order to succeed in this year’s campaign, Georgetown will need Hyson to maintain her stellar numbers as it looks to fill the gap left by five graduating seniors, one of whom, outfielder Elyse Graziano, was named to the all-Big East first team last year.

“We lost a tremendous senior class, but I think we did a great job with recruiting the previous few years and had given some of our younger players plenty of opportunities,” Conlan said. “We had some young kids in positions last year that played a tremendous role for us, so this team right now is not missing a beat.”

Hyson touted the important role that the team’s freshmen — pitcher Avery Geehr, outfielder/second baseman Payton Lawton and outfielder Theresa Kane — will play for the Hoyas this year.

“We have a really good freshman pitcher coming in,” Conlan said. “We have an outfielder, and we lost a really good center fielder last year, and she kind of fills the gap, and then we have a freshman who plays infield and outfield who’s very versatile with that.”

The Hoyas have 10 players returning from last year’s squad, five of whom started in at least 40 games. Even after losing five seniors, the Blue and Gray still field an experienced roster, including senior pitcher Lauren O’Leary, who posted a 3.65 ERA last season.

Georgetown has a much smaller team this year than in the past with only 13 players, as compared to last year’s roster of 16 players. For Conlan, this means much less tinkering with lineups early on in the season and a better understanding of how the team fits together.

“Everybody knows they’re going to play a role this year and be an impact in the season,” Conlan said.

The biggest danger the Hoyas face with such a small roster is any serious injury, which could cause some scrambling with the lack of the usual depth at certain positions.

“If someone gets hurt that’s going to be a problem, but everybody’s been doing pretty well especially with injuries,” Hyson said. “Our trainer’s been helping us a lot; a couple of us she’s put a lot of Band-Aids on.”

Georgetown will be opening its season this weekend when it participates in the Belmont Invitational, playing Indiana State, South Dakota, University of Missouri-Kansas City and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

Conlan has a simple plan for the Hoyas as they enter their first matchup.

“I think we’re just going to continue to remind them that the game hasn’t changed and to get out there and know that the season’s a grind,” Conlan said. “We just need to play one pitch at a time, one inning at a time, one game at a time.”

The Hoyas are ready to finally take the field. Hyson mentioned that the team has been eagerly counting down to Friday from as far back as 60 days ago. Hyson herself is also excited for Friday, but that will mark a bittersweet moment for her — the beginning of her last season on the Hilltop.

“It’s like a mix between exciting and really depressing, because I know it’s my last year, especially with it being my last year with my teammates,” Hyson said. “But I’m really excited to start the season.”