NEW YORK – The Columbia softball team (7-11, 2-1 Ivy) takes on Yale (4-15, 1-2 Ivy) in what will be the Lions' home-opening series this Saturday and Sunday. The weekend begins with a doubleheader on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. The third game of the series is scheduled for the same time on Sunday.
All three of this weekend's games can be watched live on the Ivy League Network. Live stats are available through StatBroadcast.
GOTT MAKES NATIONAL HEADLINES
Senior infielder Madison Gott made national headlines when she was named Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week on Tuesday. Gott batted .474 with a .524 OBP, 1.000 slugging percentage, three home runs, five runs and eight RBIs through five games. The highlight of her week came last Saturday, when she hit game-winning home runs in both of Columbia's extra-inning victories over Penn. Her first came in the eighth inning of game one to win it, 8-6 (8), and her second game in the eighth of game two, winning the game, 9-7 (8). Gott went on to hit her third two-run home run of the series on Sunday, finishing the first weekend of Ivy play 7 for 13 with five runs and six RBIs. The national player of the week recognition is the first in Columbia softball program history. The senior was named Ivy League Player of the Week for a second time this season on Monday.
Headline: Gott Selected NFCA National Player of the Week
LION NOTABLES
- Senior Taylor Troutt leads Columbia with a .407 batting average, .467 on-base percentage and .667 slugging percentage. She has hit safely in six straight and 10 of the last 11 games.
- Senior Madison Gott leads Columbia in RBIs (16), doubles (6) and home runs (4).
- Sophomore Sommer Grzybek ran a career-best 11-game hitting streak (Feb. 24 – Mar. 13). She hit .417 over the course of those 11 games.
- First-year Maria Pagane started her collegiate career with a seven-game hitting streak, including a home run in her very first at-bat.
- First-year Max Ortega hit her first collegiate home run on Saturday at Penn.
SCOUTING YALE
Yale (4-15, 1-2 Ivy) lost its first Ivy League series to Harvard, but was able to avoid the sweep by winning the final game on Sunday, 7-0. First-year Miranda Papes (1-6) tossed a 3-hit shutout for her first victory. She carries a team=best 2.97 ERA through 37 2-3 innings pitched with 21 strikeouts. Junior Terra Jerpbak (3-4) has seen the majority of the workload in the circle, tossing 52 2-3 innings with 44 strikeouts and five complete games. First-year Sydney Grobman leads the offense with a .302 batting average, playing and startingin 16 of the 19 games. Sophomore Annie Tarte is hitting .292 with a team-best 19 hits. Senior Francesca Casalino leads Yale with three home runs and 10 RBIs.
HOME COOKIN'
The Lions went 10-4 (.714) in home games last season, tying for the best home record in program history with the 2014 team (15-6, .714). Last year's team won its first eight home games, marking the longest home winning streak since the 2014 team won its first 12. Columbia started the Ivy League season at home last year with a four-game weekend sweep over Dartmouth and Harvard. The Lions won three of those four games in walk-off fashion, including a ninth-inning home run by Sommer Grzybek in game two against Dartmouth.
NEW IVY LEAGUE FORMAT
The Ivy League changed its schedule format for the 2018 season. Divisional play was eliminated and all eight teams will play one three-games series against one another. Columbia hosts three series (Yale, Harvard, Princeton) and plays four series on the road (Penn, Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell). The teams in first and second place in the Ivy League standing at the end of the regular season will play a three-game series to determine the Ivy League champion. The championship series will be hosted at the location of the team which finished first in the league standings (May 12-13).
GALLO 1-HITS FULLERTON
Sophomore Erin Gallo made her first collegiate shutout a memorable one, tossing a one-hitter against back-to-back NCAA Regional participant Cal State Fullerton in a 5-0 Columbia victory (March 13). Gallo struck out a career-high seven and took a no-hitter into the fourth inning. She retired 11 straight after walking the first batter of the game before a two-out hit in the fourth. That was all the Titans would get, as the native of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, retired 21 of the 25 batters she faced and recorded the final out on her 100th pitch.
Headline: Gallo 1-Hits Cal State Fullerton in 5-0 Victory
GOLDEN STATE HOMECOMING
Columbia was able to bring six players back to their home state over Spring Break, which includes senior Nina Mandracchia (San Jose, Calif.), junior Jordan Townsend (Yorba Linda, Calif.), sophomores Amanda Nishihira (Los Alamitos, Calif.) and Emma Trussell (Chula Vista, Calif.), as well as first-years Max Ortega (Highland, Calif.) and Kiana McCaul (Los Gatos, Calif.). Of the half-dozen, Townsend, Nishihira and Ortega hail from the Los Angeles area, where the Lions spent their Spring Break trip.
GOTT CYCLES HER WAY TO PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior infielder Madison Gott hit for the only known cycle in the softball program's 19 years of existence as Columbia rolled by Howard, 12-1, in five innings (March 4). Gott went 4-for-4 in the game with a career-high five RBIs, finishing the weekend with three doubles, two triples, a home run, five runs scored and seven RBIs. Gott's cycle is just the second completed in five innings in the NCAA this season.
Highlight: Gott Hits for the Cycle
IVY LEAGUE WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
March 5 – Player of the Week – Madison Gott
March 5 – Rookie of the Week – Maria Pagane
March 19 – Player of the Week – Madison Gott
IVY LEAGUE WEEKLY HONOR ROLL
February 26 – Erin Gallo, Maria Pagane
March 5 – Madison Canby, Taylor Troutt
March 12 – Sommer Grzybek, Olivia Parker, Taylor Troutt
March 19 – Erin Gallo, Max Ortega, Taylor Troutt
