It was a tough weekend for the Colonials, who traveled to Spartanburg, S.C. for the Firehouse Subs Spartan Invitational, where they fell to all three of their opponents.

Head coach Stacey Schramm said the team’s play was inconsistent, as they were unable to put together strong defense and strong offense on the same day.

“It was definitely a frustrating weekend and we were kind of waiting for everything to come together, and it just didn’t,” Schramm said.

GW opened weekend play Friday against Bowling Green with a 1-0 loss, followed by a 6-0 loss to host USC Upstate. Schramm said that while pitching was strong, the team was not strong offensively, contributing to the sort of incomplete play that hampered the Colonials’ weekend performance.

Bowling Green scored in the first inning, and GW was unable to send any players home throughout the remainder of the game. Sophomore Victoria Valos and senior Tara Fogarty both got on base in the fourth and seventh innings, but the following batters did not get hits, stranding the two.

Against Bowling Green, freshman Meghan Rico pitched her second complete game in four starts, only allowing the Falcons one hit, a single in the third inning. Later, junior Courtney Martin pitched also pitched a complete game, this time against the USC Upstate Spartans. Martin allowed 10 hits, but struck out three batters.

The Spartans took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. The Colonials loaded the bases in the second, but could not send anyone home. Martin allowed two runs in the third inning and three more in the fourth.

The team has been unable to practice on their own field yet this season, which Schramm said will help them improve their skills and be able to have both strong defense and offense in games.

“I think that’s going to make a huge difference. I think the kids now realize they need to come in extra to get work done because the minimum times that we’re practicing clearly isn’t enough,” Schramm said.

Saturday, the Colonials were up 3-1 against Samford in the second, but ultimately fell 12-4 to the Bulldogs. In the fifth, the Bulldogs took a 6-3 lead.

Valos hit an RBI in the sixth, responding to two more runs the Bulldogs scored earlier in the inning, but the Colonials would not catch Samford. GW allowed four more runs in the seventh.

Rico and Martin split time on the mound, but Rico was charged with the loss, allowing five runs in four innings.

Scramm said that she wants her players’ skills to start coming together more, rather than focus on the outcomes of games.

“I just want our hitters to start making better adjustments at the plate. I want them to start being smart-aggressive at the plate. And I want our pitchers to be consistent from the start of the game to the end of the game,” Schramm said.

Freshman Carlee Gray, a first baseman, stood out as a leader on the field this weekend, Schramm said. Gray had two RBIs in the game against Samford and nine put-outs against Bowling Green. Schramm said that Gray had great enthusiasm, pointing to a time that she fell into the other team’s dugout this past weekend in order to catch a pop-up.

Despite being a freshman, Schramm said Gray demonstrates great leadership on the field, and that she hopes the rest of the team will learn from Gray’s successes.

“We know every single game Carlee Gray is there, and into it, and focused. And so hopefully the kids around her start to see her success and why she is so successful and step it up as well,” Schramm said.

Sunday’s game against George Mason was cancelled due to snow. The Colonials head to Chapel Hill, N.C. next weekend for the Carolina Classic.