The Hoyas dropped all four of their games during a two-day jaunt in Georgia at the Kennesaw State Invitational, but still shook off some off-season rust and got over some growing pains. With just two pitchers available and not having practiced on a field since October, Georgetown looked like a team still coming together, with seven freshmen on a roster of 16. Georgetown nearly won its first game of the year against Kennesaw State on Saturday, but eventually fell 3-2. The Hoyas scored two first-inning runs on two hits and two timely errors by the Fighting Owls (2-2), but after a pitching change, could only muster three hits over the next 6 innings. Though the team went 5-for-24 at the plate, Head Coach Pat Conlan was confident that the second-year program is progressing. “For our first weekend out, it was pretty impressive,” Conlan said. “We made some good contact. We played some very competitive programs that have been around for several years. The way we handled ourselves on our first weekend out was in the right direction.” Conlan said that the Hoyas have not been able to practice on a field during most of the off season because of snow, ice and cold. “We found an indoor facility to practice in, but it’s only a couple of days a week,” Conlan said. With a few hours to rest, Georgetown hit the field once again on Saturday against Georgia Tech (4-0). The Yellow and Black walloped the Blue and Gray 17-0 in a game that was called off after five innings due to the lopsided score. The Yellow Jacket pitching stung the Hoyas badly, limiting Georgetown to one hit in the five innings. Freshman hurler Sarah Kamenski pitched the first two innings, giving up three earned runs on six hits while walking just two. Her replacement, freshman Jennifer Connell – the only other pitcher on the roster – tossed three innings and gave up 12 earned runs. “The most important part about the pitching is we put the ball over the plate and got the ball in play,” sophomore outfielder Katherine Incantalupo said. “It wasn’t a tremendous amount of walks; it was competitive.” Georgia Tech handed out six free passes to Georgetown’s eight. After playing two games on Saturday, Georgetown suited up again for another double-dip on Sunday, facing Evansville and Miami of Ohio. Kamenski pitched all five innings against Evansville, giving up six earned runs while the defense let the Purple Aces push across four more unearned runs. The Hoyas lost 10-2 against Evansville (3-1) but hit .300 as a team in the game. Freshman second baseman Jadig Garcia recorded the Hoyas’ only RBI in the contest. Georgetown only struck out 13 times in their first three games, putting the ball in play more often than last season. “We have a new assistant coach and we’ve been doing a lot of new things. I think all of our swings have changed a little this season,” junior outfielder Katharine Lang said. Senior infielder Cathy Richter changed something big against Miami. With the Hoyas down 7-3 in the top of the seventh inning, Ricther led off the inning with a home run – the first in the short, 17-month history of Georgetown softball. Georgetown still lost 7-4, but watching Richter round the bases gave the Hoyas a sense of hope to carry into their 55 remaining games. “We put the ball in play a lot, got our first home run,” Lang said. “We just need to get the win this weekend.” Georgetown will travel south again, this time to Elon, N.C., for the Elon Invitational against Ohio, Rider and Elon this Saturday and Sunday.