KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- The Lions dropped a pair of games at the Rebel Spring Games on Wednesday, falling to Colgate in a battle that went down to the wire, 3-2, before dropping a 9-1 decision to Atlantic Coast Conference opponent Maryland.
Game One - Colgate
The Columbia University softball team halved its two-run deficit in the sixth inning and had the potential game-tying run at second base in the seventh but could not finish off the comeback attempt as it fell to Colgate, 3-2, at the Rebel Spring Games on Wednesday morning.
Senior Dani Pineda went 2-for-4 with an RBI double, while first-year Alison Lam tallied the only other hit for Columbia. First-year Maureen O'Kane pieced together an effective pitching performance despite a season-high eight walks. O'Kane allowed only five hits, four of which were singles, and struck out three while allowing just one earned run in seven innings in the circle.
After O'Kane worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the first, the Lions took the lead in their first at-bat in the bottom half. First-year Jennifer Bergeron drew a base on balls with one out to bring Pineda to the plate. The senior co-captain looped a double over the third baseman's head and down the left-field line to plate Bergeron and give Columbia a 1-0 lead.
The run would hold up until the third, when Colgate tied the contest. Brittany Hanrahan began a two-out rally with a double to left field. Red Raider catcher Nicole Siedhof would drive her in with a single up the middle to knot the contest at 1-1.
A pair of scoreless innings would follow before Colgate took the lead with a pair of unearned runs in the sixth. Three Columbia errors, a passed ball and a walk led to the go-ahead scores.
The Lions would battle back in their final two at-bats, and would draw closer in the bottom of the sixth. Bergeron reached on an error by the first baseman to lead off, and was advanced to second on an infield hit by Pineda. Both runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch and first-year Christie Taylor plated Bergeron with a squeeze play that moved Pineda 60 feet from home plate.
After a walk with two outs loaded the bases, Colgate pitcher Michelle Hollebeke recorded a strike out to end the threat and maintain the Red Raiders' lead. The Lions would get a one-out single from Lam in the seventh, but a pair of groundouts closed out the contest.
Game Two - Maryland
Columbia took an early 1-0 lead against the University of Maryland in the first inning, and held it until the third before the Terps scored three runs in the third and four more in the fourth en route to a 9-1 win in six innings on Wednesday.
The Lions got on the board in the first as first-year Alison Lam drew a walk to lead off the game. Classmate Jennifer Bergeron reached on an error by the first baseman to put runners at the corners and nobody out. After a strikeout by Maryland pitcher Kendra Knight, her first of 14 on the game, Bergeron stole second to take away the double-play opportunity for the Terps.
After another Lion went down on strikes, Knight uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Lam to score the game's first run. Knight would bear down and strike out the next batter to end the inning.
Junior Maggie Johnson got the start in the circle, and stranded five Maryland runners on base over the first two innings before running into trouble in the third. Four hits in the frame erased Columbia's lead and gave the Terrapins a 3-1 cushion. Nadine Blackie had an RBI single and Knight helped herself with a run-scoring base hit of her own.
A solo home run by Maryland's Alex Schultz ignited a four-run fourth inning that extended the team's lead to 7-1. Schultz was one of five Terrapins to register multi-hit games.
Columbia got its first hit of the ball game in the top of the sixth, as Lam reached safely on a bunt. Bergeron also reached on a fielder's choice to give the Lions two on with nobody out. But Knight was up to the challenge again, striking out two of the next three batters to get out of trouble.
Maryland would end the game the next half inning as a base hit was followed by a two-run home run by Nikki Maier that put the Terrapins up 9-1 and enforced the eight-run rule.
The Lions will return to action on Thursday, March 18 as they take on St. Peter's at 11 a.m.
