Columbia Travels to Princeton for Friday-Saturday Series

Friday, March 29

Princeton, N.J.

3:00 P.M.

Columbia University

Princeton

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Photo by: Eric Espada/Columbia University

Columbia Travels to Princeton for Friday-Saturday Series

3/28/2019 2:49:00 PM | Softball

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First-place Lions (3-0 Ivy) look to continue hot Ivy start against the Tigers

NEW YORK — The Columbia softball team (10-11, 3-0 Ivy) will travel to Princeton (5-13, 2-1 Ivy) for a three-game set this weekend. In an effort to avoid inclement weather, the series will now begin on Friday with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. Games two and three will be played Saturday beginning at 12:30 p.m.

Every game of the series will be streamed live on ESPN+. ESPN+ is a new, subscription-based service that offers monthly ($4.99) and yearly ($49.99) plans. Click here to subscribe to ESPN+ and start your free trial. Click here for frequently asked questions about the Ivy League on ESPN.

Pitch-by-pitch stats will be available for all games courtesy of GoPrincetonTigers.com.

ALONE IN FIRST
Fresh off a three-game sweep over Dartmouth, Columbia sits alone in first place in the Ivy League standings at 3-0. The Lions are the only team in the league that has not lost a game. Princeton (2-1) is a game back after taking two of three from Yale. Cornell (2-1) is right there as well by taking its first series of the year from Brown. The top two teams in the final standings will advance to the Ivy League Playoff, scheduled for May 10-11 at the location of the regular season champion.

ORTEGA DOUBLES UP AS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sophomore slugger Max Ortega collected 10 hits in five games and batted .636 in a series sweep over Dartmouth on her way to being named Ivy League Player of the Week for a second straight week on Tuesday. Ortega batted .556 to lead the Lions to a 4-1 week, including the softball program's second 3-0 Ivy League start in the last three years. The sophomore third baseman out of Highland, California slugged .722, hit three doubles and collected four runs and four RBIs. She also carried a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage for the second consecutive week. The week prior, she was 10-for-17 at the plate with four doubles, a triple, a homer, nine runs and seven RBIs to lead the Lions to a 4-1 showing at the USF-Michele Smith Pediatric Cancer Spring Invitational. The player-of-the-week selections are the first two of her career.

IVY LEAGUE WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
February 25: Sommer Grzybek – Player of the Week
March 18: Max Ortega – Player of the Week
March 25: Max Ortega – Player of the Week

IVY LEAGUE WEEKLY HONOR ROLL
February 25: Madison Canby, Max Ortega, Abby Stuart
March 4: Erin Gallo, Maria Pagane
March 18: Sommer Grzybek, Alexa Pinarski, Alex Yule
March 25: Madison Canby, Amanda Nishihira, Maria Pagane, Alexa Pinarski

10-GAME TEAR
Columbia entered the week with a record of 8-2 over its last 10 games before falling to LIU Brooklyn on Wednesday. Over that time, the Lions hit .343, outscoring opponents by a combined margin of 61-37 and averaging 6.1 runs per game. The pitching staff carried a 3.29 ERA over that stretch, including five complete games. Columbia's hot streak began with its trip to the USF-Michele Smith Pediatric Cancer Spring Invitational, where it went 4-1 against La Salle, Providence, Army, Lafayette and Quinnipiac. The Lions split their final two games in the Sunshine State against Lafayette and Florida Gulf Coast before opening up the Ivy League season at home with a series sweep over reigning co-champion Dartmouth.

COLUMBIA BULLETS
Max Ortega leads the Ivy League in batting average (.477), doubles (8), RBIs (16), runs (17), hits (31) and total bases (44). She entered the week ranking No. 5 in the nation in batting average, No. 19 in doubles per game (0.40) and among the top 50 in on-base percentage (.522).

Junior Sommer Grzybek ranks No. 1 in the Ivy League in slugging (.905) and home runs (6), No. 3 in runs (15), No. 3 in RBIs (14) and No. 4 in total bases (38). She is also No. 3 in batting average (.405) and on-base percentage (.500).

Maria Pagane (.310) joins Ortega and Grzybek as the three Lions hitting over .300.

Pitchers Madison Canby and Alexa Pinarski each earned complete-game victories over the weekend against Dartmouth. Canby (5-4) carries a 3.41 ERA and has thrown six complete games, including one shutout. Pinarski (4-4) carries a 4.65 ERA on the season but boasts an Ivy League ERA of 1.17 following Sunday's victory. The two have combined to throw 102.1 of Columbia 134.1 innings this season.

Canby is tied for the Ivy League lead in wins (5) and is among the top five in strikeouts (33). She and Erin Gallo (3.05 ERA) boast two of the league's top 10 ERAs (min. 10 IP).

Columbia's power offense leads the Ivy League in runs (91), home runs (13), RBIs (81), total bases (220) and slugging (.432).

SCOUTING PRINCETON
The Tigers opened Ivy League play with a series victory at home over Yale last weekend. They took Saturday's first game in five innings, 8-0, and shut out the Bulldogs again in game two, 2-0, before Yale salvaged game three by a score of 4-1. Senior Kaylee Grant is hitting a team-best .413 with 19 hits and a team-high nine RBIs. Junior outfielder Megan Donahey is hitting .333 and leads the team in runs scored with 12. The pitching staff carries a 6.77 ERA, partly due to Princeton's tough non-conference schedule that included the likes of Wisconsin and nationally ranked Arizona State and Texas. Ali Blanchard has struck out 44 in 36.2 innings pitched and leads the staff with a 5.35 ERA. Allie Reynolds has pitched a team-high 46.2 innings with a 5.70 ERA.

ALL-TIME SERIES
The Tigers lead the all-time series, 42-17, but the Lions took two of three last season in New York. The last time the Lions visited Princeton they lost three out of four (2017).