GEORGIA TECH - GEORGIA STATE INVITATIONAL
* TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
Friday, Feb. 20, 2015
at Georgia Tech (DH) | 1:30 p.m. & 4 p.m.
Mewborn Field | Atlanta, Ga.
* LIVE STATS (Game 1 / Game 2)
Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015
vs. Presbyterian (at Georgia St.) | 11 a.m.
at Georgia St. | 1:30 p.m.
Heck Softball Complex | Atlanta, Ga.
* LIVE STATS
Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015
vs. at Georgia Tech | 12 p.m.
Mewborn Field | Atlanta, Ga.
* LIVE STATS
OPENING PITCH: Mount St. Mary's Head Coach Anna Nagro begins her fifth season as the leader of the program with the Georgia Tech-Georgia State Invitational in Atlanta, Ga. The three-day competition will include a doubleheader at Georgia Tech on Friday, Feb. 20, followed by games at Georgia State versus Presbyterian and the host, Panthers, the following day. The Mount concludes the invitational with a return trip to Georgia Tech to take on Alcorn State for a single game.
ABOUT THE COMPETITION: Georgia Tech, of the Atlantic Coast Conference, is 2-8 on the year with a pair of wins over No. 20 Nebraska. Four Georgia Tech players are hitting .300 or better, led by Katie Johnsky and her .364 average. Presbyterian has played in two tournaments, compiling a 2-4 overall record. Kersten Legacki has exploded out of the gate with a .611 average and three home runs through six games for the Blue Hose. Georgia State is 3-2 with both losses coming to top-20 Auburn. GSU has taken down Eastern Illinois, Ball State and Winthrop in the early going. Alcorn State has posted a 2-7 mark, most recently sweeping a doubleheader with Division II Kentucky State.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. THE COMPETITION: Presbyterian is the only team on the schedule at the GT-GSU Invitational the Mount has ever faced. In a neutral site game at the University of Florida on March 2, 2013, the Mount was handed a 5-2 defeat by Presbyterian. The Mountaineers have never faced Georgia Tech, Georgia State or Alcorn State.
STARTS TO THE SEASON: Last season, the Mount started 3-0 for the first time since moving to Division I prior to the 1989 season. The best five-game starts for the Mount under fifth-year Head Coach Anna Nagro came in 2011 and 2014 when the squad went 3-2.
THE RETURNERS: The Mount brings back 13 letterwinners from last year's team, including six seniors. Returners include Jessica Greenewald, who posted a team-best 38 hits a year ago, as well as Holly Buckel, a Second-Team All-NEC performer in 2014. Rachel Gavigan, the team's leading home run hitter with four last season, is also back for her junior campaign.
NEWCOMERS: After losing a talented 2014 senior class that included five seniors, Nagro reloaded with five new freshmen to fill the void. This year's freshmen include Niki Gonzalez and Marian Ruf from Arizona, Morgan Alisauckas from Pennsylvania, Devon Hutchins from Maine and Shea McFarland from Maryland.
NEC PRESEASON POLL: Mount St. Mary's was selected to finish eighth in the annual Northeast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. Central Connecticut was picked first in the poll with four first-place votes, followed closely by Bryant, which also picked up four top votes. LIU Brooklyn and Robert Morris finished 3-4 in the poll with the Blackbirds of LIU picking up the final first-place vote. FDU, Saint Francis U and Wagner followed, with the Mount finishing ahead of Sacred Heart in this year's poll.
2014 RECAP: The Mount tied for sixth in the Northeast Conference regular season standings a year ago after entering the final doubleheader with a chance to clinch a playoff spot. The 2014 Mountaineers finished 19-24-1 overall and 7-9 in NEC play. Nicole Pagano, a 2014 graduate, dominated hitters with a 1.18 ERA to finish fifth in Division I. Pagano, as well as Holly Buckel, earned Second Team All-NEC accolades.
