TAMPA, Fla. — The Columbia softball team (2-8) flies south for seven games over a span of six days in the Sunshine State. The Lions will play five over the weekend at the USF-Michele Smith Pediatric Cancer Spring Invitational, followed by midweek singles on Tuesday and Wednesday against Lafayette and Florida Gulf Coast.
Pitch-by-pitch stats will be available for all games courtesy of GoColumbiaLions.com. Live stats for Wednesday's game against FGCU will be provided via StatBroadcast. Fans can also track the Lions on Twitter by following @CULionsSoftball.
SPRING BREAK SCHEDULE
Friday
- Columbia vs. La Salle (2-8) – 9:30 a.m.
- Columbia vs. Providence (9-7) – 11:45 a.m.
Saturday
- Columbia vs. Army West Pont (8-14) – 9 a.m.
- Columbia vs. Lafayette (2-10) – 11:30 a.m.
Sunday
- Columbia vs. Quinnipiac (4-9) – 9 a.m.
Tuesday
- Columbia vs. Lafayette (2-10) – Noon
Wednesday
- Columbia at Florida Gulf Coast (10-10) – 5 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
Columbia had a 12-day layoff since it last played down in Greenville, North Carolina at East Carolina's Purple & Gold Invitational. The Lions played five games but were unable to pick up a win, falling twice to defending Atlantic 10 champion UMass, twice to East Carolina and once to Winthrop. Maria Pagane hit .313 over the weekend with three runs scored while senior Alexandra Yule was 3-for-9 with a double and two RBIs. Erin Gallo pitched to a 0.95 ERA in 7.1 innings across two appearances.
QUICK HITS
Sommer Grzybek ranks No. 1 in the Ivy League in home runs (5) and total bases (26), as well as top five in runs (7), RBIs (7) and slugging (.963). The slugger is also top 10 in batting average (.370).
Three Lions enter the weekend hitting above .300, including Max Ortega (.393), Sommer Grzybek (.370) and Alexandra Yule (.316).
Max Ortega ranks No. 3 in the Ivy League (min. 10 AB) in batting average (.393), No. 6 in on-base percentage (.452) and top 10 in hits (11).
Columbia's power offense leads the Ivy League in home runs (8) and is among the top half in total bases (91) and slugging (.358).
Madison Canby leads the pitching staff with a 3.46 ERA in 26.1 innings this season
SERIES RECORDS
Columbia vs. La Salle:
- Series tied 1-1
- Last contested in 2000, split doubleheader
Columbia vs. Providence:
- First meeting
Columbia vs. Army:
- Series tied 5-5
- Army won all three games between the two sides last season
- Columbia last defeated the Black Knights in 2009
Columbia vs. Lafayette:
- Columbia leads 7-2
- Lions swept doubleheader in last meeting in 2014
Columbia vs. Quinnipiac:
- First meeting
Columbia vs. Florida Gulf Coast:
- First meeting
GRZYBEK POWERS HER WAY TO PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Outfielder Sommer Grzybek hit four home runs on opening weekend to claim her third career Ivy League Player of the Week honors. The two-time All-Ivy League selection hit .467 in a return to her home state, going 7-for-15 at the plate with a .500 on-base percentage and robust 1.267 slugging percentage. The junior's performance was highlighted by a two-homer game in which she accounted for all three Columbia runs as part of a 3-0 shutout over Florida International. She also blasted home runs against Monmouth and Rutgers on Saturday, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored in the 10-3 victory against the Hawks.
COMPLETE-GAME CANBY
Madison Canby went the distance in all three of her starts at the season-opening FIU Panther Invitational, posting an impressive 2.03 ERA in 20.2 innings pitched. Her highlight of the weekend was a complete-game shutout over Florida International. Canby allowed just five hits without surrendering a single a walk, retiring 12 of the first 14 batters and each of the last seven batters she faced. FIU only managed to put one runner in scoring position all game. Saturday, the All-Ivy Honorable Mention from 2018 went six scoreless innings after allowing three first-inning runs against Rutgers. She also tossed six innings of one-run ball in Friday's season opener against Monmouth before the Hawks struck for three runs in the seventh.
REWRITING OFFENSIVE RECORDS
Columbia is coming off a historic 2018 season in which it broke team records in eight offensive categories: 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).
Taylor Troutt '18CC earned the program's first ever Ivy League Player of the Year selection last season. Troutt set new program single-season records in batting average (.455), slugging percentage (.797) and on-base percentage (.507). Fellow graduate Madison Gott '18CC joined her as a First Team All-Ivy League selection, wrapping up her four-year career as the Columbia softball program's all-time leader in runs (96), total bases (333), doubles (42), home runs (30) and RBIs (120).
IVY LEAGUE CONTENDERS
Columbia was picked third in this year's Ivy League Preseason Poll after finishing third with a record of 13-8 in 2018. Last year's Ivy League record and league finish were the best in program history. The Lions posted an overall record of 21-19 to earn their first winning season since 2002. The top two teams in the final standings qualify for the Ivy League Playoff, which is a three-game series hosted by the regular-season champion. The winner of the Ivy League Playoff earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals.
IVY LEAGUE WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
February 25 – Player of the Week – Sommer Grzybek
IVY LEAGUE WEEKLY HONOR ROLL
February 25 – Madison Canby, Max Ortega, Abby Stuart
March 4 – Erin Gallo, Maria Pagane
