NEW YORK – The Columbia softball team (17-17, 9-6 Ivy) celebrates the careers of its senior class this weekend when it hosts Princeton (8-22, 6-6 Ivy) for a three-game series. Saturday's doubleheader begins at 12:30 p.m., followed by the series finale and Senior Day on Sunday, also at 12:30 p.m.

The Ivy League Network will carry all three games of the series. Live stats will be available by using the links provided at GoColumbiaLions.com. Fans can also receive in-game updates on Twitter by following @CULionsSoftball.

THE SENIOR CLASS
Seniors Madison Gott, Maura Lynch, Nina Mandracchia, Olivia Parker and Taylor Troutt will all be honored in a Senior Day ceremony prior to Sunday's game. All five seniors are four-year members of the team and have boosted the program to new heights. The Lions are chasing their first .500 or better season since 2014, and their first .500 or better Ivy League season since 2005. The senior class has also been instrumental in setting multiple team records, including home runs (37), RBIs (184), runs (205) and total bases (539) all in 2017. This season, the Lions have already hit 35 home runs with six games remaining, scored 187 and drove in 165.

HIT-A-THON
Columbia softball will hold its second annual Hit-A-Thon following Saturday's doubleheader. Fans are encouraged to stick around and participate. To sign up for the Hit-A-Thon, and to donate, please visit the following link: http://www.gocolumbialions.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=9600&ATCLID=211701565

QUICK NOTES
- Columbia (9-6 Ivy) sits in third place in the Ivy League standings with two weekends remaining. The Lions are vying for one of the top two spots in order to qualify for the Ivy League Championship Series (May 12-13). They trail first-place Dartmouth (9-3 Ivy) and second-place Harvard (11-4 Ivy), which play each other in a three-game set this weekend in Cambridge.

- Senior Taylor Troutt carries a 22-game on-base streak into the weekend, which is the second-longest active streak in the Ivy League. She has reached safely in 30 of the 34 games this season and leads Columbia in batting average (.426), slugging percentage (.703) and on-base percentage (.496), while also leading the Ivy League in doubles (13). Troutt ranks 29th nationally in batting average, 11th in doubles per game (0.39) and among the top 100 in on-base and slugging percentage. She has also hit safely in 10 of her last 12 and 19 of her last 22 games. Last week, she hit .583 (7 for 12) with three doubles, a homer, five runs and six RBIs in four games, and was named to the Ivy League Weekly Honor Roll for a sixth time.

- Senior Madison Gott leads the Ivy League in RBIs (29), total bases (83) and triples (5). She also ranks No. 2 in runs (27), hits (43) and doubles (12), and among the top-five in home runs (6) and slugging (.675). Gott has hit safely in five consecutive games and owns Columbia's longest hitting streak of the season, when she strung together 12 straight from March 17 – April 6, hitting .468 with four homers, 14 runs and 15 RBIs. Nationally, Gott ranks 26th in doubles per game (0.35), 14th in triples (5) and 10th in triples per game (0.15). She is just outside the top 100 in RBIs and slugging.

- Gott has scored 91 career runs, entering the weekend four runs from tying and five from breaking the career record of 95 set by Keli Leong (2005-09).

- First-year Max Ortega hit .500 (5 for 10) last week with a triple, three runs scored and four RBIs. She was named to the Ivy League Weekly Honor Roll for the third time this season.

- First-year Maria Pagane hit .385 (5 for 13) last week with two home runs, two RBIs, two stolen bases and six runs scored. She was named to the Ivy League Weekly Honor Roll for the fourth time to go with one Rookie of the Week selection.

- Sophomore pitcher Madison Canby posted a 2-0 record with a 0.64 ERA in 11.0 innings pitched last week to be named to the Ivy League Weekly Honor Roll for the third time. Canby tossed her first collegiate shutout tin the second game of the weekend series at Brown, allowing just four hits and two walks while striking out three in a 7-0 victory.

- Columbia has hit 35 home runs in 34 games to rank No. 2 in the NCAA in home runs per game (1.03). Maria Pagane and sophomore Amanda Nishihira lead the Ivy League with seven home runs apiece. Columbia also boasts three of the top six and four of the top 11 home run hitters in the Ivy League.

- Columbia ranks No. 32 nationally in doubles per game (1.50), No. 31 in triples per game (0.29), No. 38 in scoring (5.50 runs/game) and No. 38 in slugging (.469).

SCOUTING PRINCETON
Princeton (8-22, 6-6 Ivy) lost its first 10 games and 14 of its first 15 games of the season, but has rebounded in Ivy League play. The Tigers took two of three against Brown (March 24-28) and swept Yale last weekend to improve to .500 against the Ancient Eight. They lost five of six against Harvard and Dartmouth, getting swept by the Crimson (March 31 – April 1). Three Tigers are hitting above .300, led by freshman Emily Taggart at .325, sophomore Megan Donahey at .324 and freshman Mackenzie Meyer at .323. Meyer has hit a team-best five home runs to go with 11 RBIs. Sophomore Allison Harvey heads the squad with 14 driven in. The Tigers are hitting .260 as a team, including .272 in Ivy League play, while the pitching staff is struggling to a 6.37 team ERA. Freshman Allie Reynolds (5-11) has tossed 106 2-3 innings and leads the staff with a 4.99 ERA and 48 strikeouts. Senior Ashley LaGuardia (3-7), has made 12 starts, totaling 58 1-3 innings with a 7.44 ERA. The Tiger staff has an improved team ERA against Ivy opponents of 4.23.

THE SERIES
Princeton leads the series, 41-15. The Tigers won three of four last season at Princeton on their way to the Ivy League championship. Columbia's last series victory came in 2011, winning three of four on the road.

THREE-HOMER THIRDS
Columbia hit three home runs in the third inning of last Friday's, 8-2, series-opening win at Brown. Madison Gott and Sommer Grzybek hit back-to-back home runs to start the inning before Amanda Nishihira hit her Ivy League-leading seventh to make it an 8-0 game. Columbia started the inning with six consecutive extra-base hits. It marked the second time this season the Lions hit three home runs in an inning, also doing so in the third inning on March 28 against Fairfield. Columbia went on to win that game in extra innings, 11-10. 

IVY LEAGUE POWERHOUSE
Columbia is the class of the Ivy League in terms of offensive power. The Lions lead the conference in hits (274), runs (187), doubles (51), home runs (35), RBIs (165), total bases (450), slugging percentage (.469) and even walks (102). Through the first 15 Ivy League games, the Lions are hitting .300 and rank at or near the top of the conference in most offensive categories, including first in hits (132), doubles (27), home runs (17) and total bases (216).

GOTT RECORDS?
Madison Gott is Columbia's career leader in home runs (28), doubles (40), RBIs (113), total bases (316) and slugging (.562). The senior also ranks third in batting average (.324), third in hits (182) and third in runs scored (91). Last season, Gott broke the program's single-season records in batting average (.381), hits (59), total bases (102) and RBIs (40), while tying the home run record (10).

HITTING STREAKS
Senior Madison Gott hit .468 through a 12-game hitting streak that spanned March 17 – April 6. Gott had 22 hits, 15 RBIs, 14 runs scored, six doubles, two triples and four home runs over the three-week span.

Sophomore Sommer Grzybek had an 11-game hitting streak from Feb. 24 – March 13. Grzybek hit .417 along the way with four runs and six RBIs, also walking four times and stealing two bases.

A FLAIR FOR THE DRAMATIC
Columbia has gone to extra innings five times this season and holds a record of 4-1 in those games. The Lions walked off against Virginia (March 3) in nine innings on Amanda Nishihira's three-run homer in the ninth, winning the game 11-8. Madison Gott hit an eighth-inning home run in both game one and game two of a three-game series against Penn (March 17), helping the Lions win by scores of 8-6 and 9-7. Columbia also walked off in the ninth against Fairfield (March 28) on Gott's double to defeat the Stags, 11-10.

Adding to the drama, six of Columbia's last 12 games have been decided by one run, including all three games at Dartmouth. The Lions hit three home runs to earn an 8-7 victory over Manhattan (April 11)

GOTT MAKES NATIONAL HEADLINES
Senior infielder Madison Gott made national headlines when she was named Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week (March 20). 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 in Saturday's Ivy League opener against Penn, when she hit game-winning home runs in both of Columbia's extra-inning victories. 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 also named Ivy League Player of the Week for a second time this season.

Headline: Gott Selected NFCA National Player of the Week

HOME COOKIN'
The Lions have started 6-3 at home this season after going 10-4 (.714) a year ago. Last year's team tied the program record from 2014 for home winning percentage (15-6, .714). The 2017 Lions won their 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.

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
March 27 – Madison Gott, Madison Canby, Maria Pagane
April 2 – Madison Gott, Taylor Troutt, Maria Pagane
April 9 – Taylor Troutt, Erin Gallo, Max Ortega
April 16 – Taylor Troutt, Madison Canby, Maria Pagane, Max Ortega

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