NEW YORK —  Columbia softball polished off a three-game sweep over 2018 Ivy League co-champion Dartmouth on Sunday, defeating the Big Green by scores of 9-1 (6) and 6-4.
Columbia (10-10, 3-0 Ivy) scored 20 runs on the weekend, including 15 in Sunday's doubleheader. The Lions turned a 2-1 contest into a mercy-rule victory with seven runs in the fifth and sixth innings of game one. First-year Abby Stuart ended it with a three-run moon shot to left. Columbia jumped out to a 5-1 lead in game two and held on behind Maria Pagane's 3-for-3, 4-RBI performance.
"I'm really proud of our resilience and our fight this weekend," said Columbia head coach Jennifer Teague, who led the Lions to a 13-8 Ivy League record and their first winning Ivy season in program history last year. "We did a good job of moving runners, we had timely hitting and our lineup continued to make adjustments. Putting up 20 runs in a weekend is awesome. I also couldn't be happier with the performances of our three starting pitchers this weekend. Our pitching coach, Cassie Vondrak, called a great series and our pitchers trusted the plan."
First-year pitcher Alexa Pinarski (4-3) earned a complete-game victory in Sunday's front end, allowing just three hits and one run over 6.0 strong innings. Junior Erin Gallo (1-1) started game two and got the win with a solid 4.1 innings before giving way to Saturday starter Madison Canby. Canby went on to lock down her first save.
Pagane went a combined 4-for-6 on the afternoon with a double, a triple, two runs and her four game-two RBIs. Max Ortega, her classmate on the left side of the infield, continued her torrid first half of the season by going 5-for-8 with three runs, two doubles and three RBIs. The sophomore slugger upped her batting average to .492. Stuart collected five RBIs off her two hits and a bases loaded walk.
"I'm pleased. A couple years ago we started off like this and we kind of relaxed," Teague added. "I reminded the team of that after today's games and they were all shaking their heads in agreement. We're going to enjoy this but we're going to get right back to work on Tuesday."
Columbia plays its next eight games, including its next two Ivy League series, on the road. A trip to LIU Brooklyn is on tap for this Wednesday before the Lions head to Princeton for a three-game set Sunday and Sunday.
Game 1 Recap: Columbia 9 – Dartmouth 1 (F/6)
Columbia broke open a tight game with a four-run fifth before Abby Stuart blasted a game-ending homer in the sixth as the Lions won the front end of Sunday's doubleheader, 9-1.
Stuart was 1-for-3 at the plate with four RBIs. She walked in a run in the fifth and made the Big Green pay for a two-out error in the sixth. Max Ortega went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs and RBIs. Genny Soltesz, Alexandra Yule and Jordan Townsend all drove in a run apiece in the fifth.
Alexa Pinarski was brilliant in the circle. Dartmouth took its only lead of the day with a run on two hits in the first, but the first-year from Dyer, Indiana was nearly unhittable from there. She surrendered one hit the rest of the day before retiring the last 14 Big Green batters in order. Pinarski needed just 81 pitches to finish off her third complete game and fourth victory (4-3) of the campaign.
Columbia took its first lead of the game courtesy of a two-out, two-run double off the bat of Ortega in the third. Genny Soltesz sacrificed Maria Pagane and Amber Swinarski into scoring position for Ortega, who hit the first pitch she saw from Shelby Wilkison to the right-center field gap.
Wilkison allowed the first three Lions to reach base in the fifth before being pulled for Heather Turner. She was ultimately charged with five runs in the loss (1-6) on just three hits but surrendered three walks. Turner entered with the bases loaded and walked in a run with one out, Yule and Townsend each followed with RBI singles to increase the Columbia lead to 5-1.
The game was destined for a seventh before a two-out error extended the home half of the sixth. Ortega kept it going with her third hit of the game to bring up Stuart, who crushed the first pitch of the at-bat well beyond the wall in left, ending the game in six.
Game 2 Recap: Columbia 6 – Dartmouth 4
Columbia took a 5-1 lead into the fifth and held off a Dartmouth rally to complete its fifth consecutive home victory over the Big Green, 6-4.
Pagane's 3-for-3, career-high 4-RBI performance was the highlight. The shortstop from Orlando, Florida came up a home run shy of the cycle, tripling in two runs in the fourth and doubling home a crucial insurance run in the sixth. Ortega compiled her second multi-hit game of the day while adding a run and an RBI. The sophomore infielders each extended their hitting streaks to 13 games.
Erin Gallo picked up her first win of the season, working around a one-out triple in the first and a stranding another Dartmouth player in scoring position in the third. She allowed an unearned run on a double-steal attempt in the fourth and was relieved by Madison Canby with two on and one out in the fifth. Both of Canby's inherited runners crossed the plate as Dartmouth put together a three-run inning, but she kept the Lions in front and picked up her first save of the year by retiring seven of the final eight batters she faced.
Columbia tagged Dartmouth starter Madie Augusto (2-7) for two runs in the first. Ortega drove a 3-2 RBI double to right-center to plate the opening run. Stuart doubled to left on the very next pitch to bring Ortega home. The lead increased to 3-0 in the second on a sac fly by Pagane.
A fourth-inning error put runners at the corners with nobody out for Dartmouth. One batter later, the Big Green ran a double steal that resulted in Tatyanah Castillo being thrown out between first and second. Billie McFayden took off for home during the rundown and slid in safely under the tag of Amanda Nishihira.
The Lions got the run right back with some insurance in the bottom half of the inning. Townsend and Nishihira reached to start the frame and were sacrificed into scoring position by Krystin Wong. Pagane stepped up with two down and tripled on a 1-1 pitch down the left-field line to make it a 5-1 ball game.
Dartmouth got back within a run in the fifth but Pagane stepped up again to deliver a much-needed insurance run in the sixth. Amber Swinarski reached on an error to give Pagane a chance, and she came through by doubling to left to bring home Townsend.
The Big Green brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh but Canby induced a fly out to center and a pop out to second to complete the sweep.
