George Washington University Athletics
Softball Hosts Weekend Tournament Beginning Friday
3/16/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball
WASHINGTON - The George Washington softball squad closes tournament play over the weekend with the three-day Capital Invitational at the GW Softball Field on the Mount Vernon Campus beginning Friday. Penn State and Niagara are slated to visit the District.
The Colonials (7-10) most recently defeated Sacred Heart, 4-0, on Sunday to cap the three-day UC Santa Barbara Gaucho Classic. Junior Sarah Costlow (5-3, 2.69 ERA) tossed a complete game gem to take the shutout victory.
Senior Paige Kovalsky leads the Colonials at the plate with a .389 batting average while freshman Jenna Cone (.368) has been a power source for the Buff and Blue, bashing a team-best eight home runs already this season with four doubles for an .860 slugging percentage.
Penn State (9-13) has fallen in three of its last four contests, most recently at No. 8 Washington on March 10. The Nittany Lions' pitching staff has given up 55 extra-base hits this spring, including 14 round-trippers.
Niagara (7-4) has won three of its last four meetings, splitting a doubleheader with Bucknell and sweeping a pair of games with St. Bonaventure to close Niagara's spring break trip to Florida.
Offensively, Niagara is batting .231 as a squad with just two long balls. Strong pitching has led the Purple Eagles, as the staff has held opponents to just a .251 average with two home runs.
GW is slated for five games over the weekend, beginning with a doubleheader against Niagara on Friday at 1 p.m.
