Columbia University
Monmouth
Columbia Softball Season Starts Up Friday at FIU Panther Invitational
2/21/2019 2:30:00 PM | Softball
Lions head down to Florida for their first of three preseason tournaments
NEW YORK — The 20th season of Columbia softball begins Friday as the Lions head down to Miami for five games over three days at the FIU Panther Invitational. Columbia will play two games against Monmouth, two against tournament host Florida International and one against Rutgers.
The first game of the season is Friday at 11 a.m., against Monmouth, followed by a game at 4 p.m., against FIU. Saturday's schedule also begins at 11 a.m., with another game against the Hawks before taking on Rutgers at 4 p.m. Columbia's final game of the weekend is Sunday morning at 11:15 against the Panthers.
Live stats will be provided for all five games courtesy of FIUsports.com. Both games against FIU will be available to watch online through C-USA.tv. A subscription is required to view the video stream.
2019 SEASON PREVIEW
Columbia heads into 2019 as Ivy League contenders after finishing third last season with its best league record (13-8) and final standing in program history. The Lions also went 21-19 overall to record their first winning season since 2002.
"I'm excited to continue to build on the progress we've made over the last couple of years," fifth-year head coach Jennifer Teague said. "Our chemistry and our team culture are in great shape right now."
The Lions graduated 2018 Ivy League Player of the Year Taylor Troutt and fellow first-team honoree Madison Gott, but still return six of their program-record eight All-Ivy League selections from a year ago. Junior outfielder Sommer Grzybek and junior catcher Amanda Nishihira each earned second-team honors. Junior pitchers Madison Canby and Erin Gallo were named Honorable Mention All-Ivy League, as were returning sophomore infielders Max Ortega and Maria Pagane.
"I think we're more mature in the pitching circle," Teague went on to say. "Erin and Maddie both threw a lot of innings last year as sophomores and got all-conference honors. Obviously, our offensive stats speak for themselves. We need to clean up some of our team defense, which we've focused on a lot so far this year, but overall we're very excited to get our cleats in the dirt, see what product we have and see what we need to work on."
Columbia set eight statistical offensive team records last year: batting average (.303), slugging percentage (.506), runs (244), triples (12), home runs (48), RBIs (218), total bases (573) and walks (131). They led the Ivy League in every one of those categories while also posting league-best numbers through Ivy play in batting average (.327), runs (139), hits (201), doubles (38), home runs (30), RBIs (131), walks (69), slugging (.552) and on-base percentage (.399).
This year's rookie class welcomes in five newcomers. Alexa Pinarksi and Monique Benjamin give Columbia five pitchers in the circle. Lauren Apollaro and Hailey Wetherill join the outfield core while Abby Stuart will look to provide even more power to the infield.
"Every year our recruiting classes get better and better," Teague added. "We think Lex and Monique will get a good amount of time right away. Abby Stuart is just a monster at the plate. She's a special hitter and offensive threat. We also have a good mix of speed with Hailey and Lauren. We're excited about all of them and they are excited about Columbia. They are leading and not waiting for someone to lead them."
Columbia was picked third and received one first-place vote in the Ivy League Preseason Poll, released last week. It marks the highest preseason selection in program history.
WEEKEND PREVIEW
Columbia will be the lone team at this weekend's tournament that has yet to play a game this season as it gears up for five games against Monmouth (2-3), Florida International (6-3) and Rutgers (4-6).
SCOUTING MONMOUTH
Monmouth (2-3) is coming off a MAAC championship season that saw them go 32-16 overall with a 19-1 mark in conference play. They went to the Knoxville Regional where they lost to No. 10 national seed Tennessee, 9-0, and Ohio, 4-0.
Monmouth opened up its season last weekend at the EMU Madeira Beach Invitational. The Hawks lost their first three games to Ball State, Central Arkansas and Delaware before picking back-to-back wins against Belmont, 4-2, and Holy Cross, 5-0. Sophomore Alyssa Irons was named MAAC Pitcher of the Week after picking up both wins while pitching 20.0 innings and giving up just five earned runs. Irons tossed a complete-game shutout against the Crusaders.
Monmouth's top hitter through the early going is junior first baseman Kayla Rosado at just .250. The Hawks are hitting .142 as team after opening weekend. Irons has pitched to a 1.75 ERA while striking out 18.
Columbia leads the all-time series 10-8-1. The two sides played last year in New Jersey with the Hawks squeaking out a walk-off win in the seventh, 5-4.
SCOUTING FIU
FIU (6-3) is coming off a 30-25 campaign that included a 14-8 mark against Conference USA competition to finish third in the regular season. They were eliminated in their first game of the conference tournament, 4-0, by MTSU.
The Panthers have two weekends of games under their belts, going 2-2 at last weekend's tournament hosted by Florida Gulf Coast. They soundly defeated Lamar, 7-0 and 8-5, but were shutout by Memphis twice, 4-0 and 6-0. FIU began the year hosting the Felsberg Invitational and went 4-1 with two wins over Memphis, one over UConn and one over Bryant.
Senior outfielder Jackie Schoff is hitting a team-best .355 through nine starts with two doubles, a triple, three RBIs and six runs scored. Jessica Rivera (.323) and Rebecca Koskey (.304) are both also hitting north of .300 while the team sits at .238. In the circle, senior Megan Kugelmann (3-1) is enjoying a nice start that has seen her pitch to a 1.24 ERA in 22.2 innings. FIU's team ERA is 2.56.
Columbia has played Florida International just twice in its history, falling by scores of 7-0 in 2015 and 1-0 in 2011.
SCOUTING RUTGERS
Rutgers (4-6) went 19-31 last season with a 4-16 conference record in its fourth season in the Big Ten. They started the 2019 season in Macon, Georgia, at the Mercer Invitational, splitting games against Mercer and Jacksonville State before ending the weekend with a 12-4 victory over Army West Point. Last weekend, they traveled down to Texas A&M and went 1-4 with just an extra-inning victory over McNeese State. They lost twice to Liberty and once to both McNeese State and the host Aggies.
Senior Jess Hughes is hitting a team-best .353 with 12 hits, four doubles, two homers and six RBIs. Junior Anyssa Iliopoulos is the main power threat, hitting .333 with five doubles, four homers and a 15 RBIs. The Scarlet Knights are hitting .244 on the season. Meanwhile, senior Whitney Jones and freshman Corah Price have seen the majority of the innings in the circle. Both carry similar ERAs with Jones slightly ahead at 3.25. The staff ERA is 3.90.
Columbia is 1-5 all-time against Rutgers but the two sides haven't played since 2004 when they split a doubleheader in Piscataway.
