PRINCETON, N.J. —  Columbia rode the arm of first-year pitcher Alexa Pinarski to a pair of one-run wins on Saturday, defeating Princeton by scores of 2-1 and 5-4 to take the weekend series at Class of 1895 Field.
Columbia improves to 12-12 overall and 5-1 in Ivy League play to remain atop the league standings. The series victory was the program's first at Princeton since taking three out of four in 2011. Princeton fell to 6-15 on the season and 3-3 against league competition.
"I tip my hat to Princeton – they are solid all around and they hit about everything we threw at them," head coach Jennifer Teague said. "We knew we were coming for a battle and I'm proud of my girls for battling all day. We had a rough day yesterday but we came back and were steady. Anytime you can win a series it's big."
Pinarski tossed a complete-game, three-hit gem in Saturday's first game to even the series at a game apiece before going on to pitch the first five innings of the rubber game. She earned both victories, combining for 12.0 innings of work and allowing five runs, four earned, while striking out four. The Tigers got to the rookie for 12 hits in game two but she worked her way around most of it by stranding nine on base. Junior Madison Canby came on in relief and tossed the final two innings, including a 1-2-3 seventh to earn her second save of the year.
"Lex was absolutely fantastic today," Teague added. "She's continuing to get better and better, and she's working hard during the week in her workouts. She wants the ball and she wants to keep working. She was so steady and I thought our pitching coach Cassie Vondrak called a great game for her. Everyone stuck to the plan and we fed the defense a lot."
"I knew I needed to step up and do well to help our team," said Pinarski, who improved to 6-4 on the season. "I was just trying to get ground balls and let our defense do the work … It really helps when I have amazing support behind me on defense. It makes me much more confident."
On top of her pitching performance, Pinarski was 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and an RBI. She also walked twice to reach base in four of her six plate appearances.
Columbia scored two in the fifth inning of game one on RBIs from junior Genny Soltesz and sophomore Max Ortega, which was just enough for Pinarski. The Lions jumped ahead 5-1 in game two with a four-run third. First-year Abby Stuart provided a big two-out, two-run double.
Columbia will play a single at Manhattan on Wednesday before continuing Ivy League play with a three-game weekend series at Harvard.
Game 1 Recap: Columbia 2 - Princeton 1
Alexa Pinarski went the distance, allowing just an unearned run on three hits, and the Lions backed her up with two in the fifth to win Saturday's first game, 2-1.
The complete game was Pinarski's fourth of the year. She didn't allow a hit in-between the first and sixth innings, retiring 16 of 17 Tigers that came to the plate while striking out four. The rookie out of Dyer, Indiana retired the side on just five pitches in the fourth.
Junior Genny Soltesz played a big part offensively, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and accounting for Columbia's only two hits in the game. She drove in the tying run with two on in the fifth before Max Ortega hit a ball to right that brought in the go-ahead run.
Ali Blanchard pitched the first 6.0 innings for Princeton and took the loss (2-7), allowing both runs on two hits while walking five and striking out six. Riley Wilkinson came on in relief after Blanchard walked Pinarski to lead off the seventh.
A two-out error at second gave the Tigers the early lead. Princeton had runners at second and third with two down when Mackenzie Meyer grounded softly to Townsend, but the ball popped out of her glove to score pinch runner Hannah Lutz with the opening run.
Columbia had its first good chance to score in the third. Amber Swinarski worked a one-out walk before Maria Pagane was hit by a pitch and Genny Soltesz reached on an infield single to load the bases for Max Ortega. The slugger swung at the first pitch she saw from Blanchard but popped it up in foul territory for the second out. Abby Stuart grounded a 1-0 pitch back to Blanchard to end the inning.
Pinarski helped herself out by leading off the fifth with a walk and was rewarded. Swinarski followed Pinarski's lead with a four-pitch base on balls and both advanced into scoring position on some heads-up baserunning when Pagane fouled out down the first base line. Genny Soltesz came up to bat and tied the game on her second hit of the day, shooting a 2-2 pitch to center to score pinch-runner Krystin Wong. Max Ortega put the Lions in front for the first time on a blooper that fell over the head of the diving Haley Hoffman at second base.
Pinarski retired the first two Tigers in the seventh on three pitches before things got a little interesting. Haley Hoffman drew a walk and pinch-hitter Gianna Mavica beat out a dribbler to third to put the tying and go-ahead runs on base. That turned around the order for leadoff batter Megan Donahey, but Pinarski got her to ground out to Ortega to polish off the victory.
Game 2 Recap: Columbia 5 - Princeton 4
Columbia put up a four-spot in the third and held off Princeton through the later innings to sweep the doubleheader and earn a series victory, 5-4.
Pinarski allowed just two runs despite giving up 12 hits. She stranded the bases loaded in the third before leaving two in scoring position in both the fourth and fifth. Meanwhile, she went 2-for-3 at the plate and drove in a run with a double down the left-field line in the fourth. Maria Pagane was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI while Stuart was 1-for-3 with two driven in.
Allie Reynolds (4-7) took the loss for Princeton, lasting 5.2 innings before Riley Wilkinson entered in relief. All five runs Reynolds surrendered were earned as the Lions tagged her for eight hits while striking out only once.
Pinarski worked around two singles in the first to put up her first zero of game two. With Tigers on the corners and one out, she got Blanchard out on a comebacker before Meyer skied out to Swinarski in center. The rookie worked a much easier second, retiring the side on just five pitches.
The Lions provided four runs of support for their starting pitcher in the third. Nishihira led things off by ripping a single to center. Pinarski helped herself out by dunking one over the third baseman before Swinarski reached on a bunt single to load the bases with nobody out for Pagane. The sophomore from Orlando came through with an RBI single to center that plated Nishihira with the first run. Soltesz grounded out to make it 2-0 before Stuart delivered the big hit, crushing a two-out, two-run double over the head of the centerfielder to make it a 4-0 game.
Princeton answered with a run in the bottom half on four straight one-out hits, but Pinarski did wonderfully to strand the bases loaded. After Blanchard drove in the opening run, Meyer stepped up to bat with the bags full and one out. Pinarski got Meyer to ground to Townsend at second, who came home to cut down Blaska at the plate. Hoffman grounded out to Ortega on the very next pitch to keep the Lions ahead 4-1 entering the fourth.
Pinarski got that run back herself in the next turn at-bat. After Townsend doubled to lead off the inning, Pinarski stepped up with one down and hit a ball just inside the line and past the diving third baseman. Townsend scored easily and Pinarski slid in safely around the tag at second.
Princeton threatened by putting runners at second and third with two down in the fourth but Pinarski was up to the task. The Tigers then loaded the bases with nobody out in the fifth and drove in a run on a grounder to second to cut Columbia's lead to 5-2. Despite there being two runners in scoring position, Coach Teague stuck with the rookie and she got herself out of it with the help of some fine defense. Maria Pagane threw home on a grounder to short to cut down a run and Pinarski got Alex Colon to ground out to Ortega at third to end the inning.
Three straight singles to begin Princeton's sixth made it a 5-3 game and brought Pinarski's day to an end. Madison Canby entered with runners at the corners and one out, allowing just one of her two inherited runners to cross the plate and keeping the Lions ahead, 5-4, entering the seventh. The junior retired the Tigers in order on eight pitches in the seventh and was rewarded with the save.
