Columbia
Penn
Lions Round Out 2016 Season In Walk-Off Fashion
4/30/2016 9:26:00 AM | Softball
G1 Box Score (PDF) | G2 Box Score (PDF) | Season Stats (PDF) | Season Stats (HTML) | Ivy League Only Stats (PDF)NEW YORK – The Columbia softball team (16-32, 7-13 Ivy) rounded out the 2016 season in exciting fashion as it rallied back to take a 4-3 walk-off win over Penn (23-21, 9-11 Ivy) and force a split with the Quakers.
Despite giving up 13 hits in game two, the Lions were able to rally back with a run in each of the final four innings while holding Penn scoreless to come back and take the 4-3 walk-off victory.
GAME TWO RECAP: Columbia 4, Penn 3
While Maura Lynch was able to strand a pair of runners in each of the first three innings, the Quakers jumped out of the gate early on as they were able to put across three runs on five hits in the top of the fourth to take a 3-0 advantage.
Columbia immediately responded back in the bottom half of the frame, however, as Reilly Metzger picked up the first Columbia hit as she blasted her first career home run straight over the right-field wall to cut the Penn lead to 3-1.
Still trailing, 3-1, in the bottom of the fifth, first-year Alexandra Yule was able to send a two-out solo home run out to left-center, cutting the Penn lead to 3-2.
Krystin Wong was able to spark the Columbia offense in the bottom of the sixth, leading things off with a base hit before Kerry Cook could move her to second on a sacrifice bunt. With two out and Wong on second, Maddie Gott was able to step up and send a RBI double off the wall in right-center to tie the game up at 3-3.
Still knotted up at 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Bonnie Schipper was able to lead things off with an infield single off the back-hand glove of the shortstop in the six-hole to put a runner on. After a mishandled ball up the middle by the Quakers, the Lions were able to put two runners in scoring position with one out before Krystin Wong could step to the plate and drive a ball into the six-hole for an infield single to score Olivia Parker from third and give the Lions a 4-3 walk-off win.
Maura Lynch (3-1) earned her second-straight win for the Lions while Alexis Sargent (12-8) took the loss for Penn after giving up three earned runs on six hits while striking out a pair.
Wong led the Lions after going 2-for-3 with a run scored and the game-winning RBI while three other Lions picked up hits in the win.
GAME ONE RECAP: Penn 9, Columbia 2
Despite a pair of strikeouts by senior Tessa Kroll, the Quakers were able to jump on the board first as they opened the game with four runs on five hits to take an early 4-0 advantage.
After giving up another run in the top of the second, the Lions were able to bounce back as Taylor Troutt battled through a nine-pitch at-bat and rifled a double down the left-field line. With the help of a wild pitch to move her to third, Troutt was able to score on a Jordan Townsend grounder to short to put Columbia on the board.
Unfortunately the Quakers were able to put across three more runs thanks to a two-RBI double by Jessica England in the top of the fifth to make it an 8-1 Penn lead.
Columbia was able to answer in the bottom half of the fifth, however, as Jordan Townsend was able to lead things off with a base hit into the left-center gap. After a couple of ground balls, Maura Lynch was able to drive a hard grounder off the glove of a diving third-baseman to score Townsend and cut the Penn lead to 8-2 heading into the sixth.
The Lions were unable to come back, unfortunately, as the Quakers added on another run in the seventh to take a 9-2 victory.
Lauren Li (6-5) earned the win after throwing a complete game for the Quakers, giving up two runs on four hits while striking out one. Tessa Kroll (5-17) took the loss after allowing five earned runs on 15 hits in 7.0 innings of work despite striking out six.
As a team, the Lions finished the season with the single-season record in home runs after belting 33 long-balls this year. Columbia also saw a number of other individual single-season records broken this season, all listed below.
COLUMBIA SINGLE-SEASON RECORDS BROKEN THIS SEASON
Individual (heading into Saturday's games):
Slugging Percentage (1st) - .669 (Taylor Tierney, .540)
Total Bases (1st) - 93 (Kayla Lechler/Emily Snodgrass, 79)
Home Runs (1st) - 10 (Taylor Tierney, 9)
RBI (1st) - 36 (Taylor Tierney, 31)
Maddie Gott
Sacrifice Flies (1st) - 3 (13 people, 2)
Triples (T-1st) - 3 (Three people, 3)
TEAM:
Home Runs (1st, 33) - Was: 28 (2014)
