NEW YORK – The Columbia softball team split a pair of one-run games against Penn on Saturday, defeating the Quakers, 6-5, on a late home run in the opener before falling in the back end, 4-3.
Saturday's results moved Columbia to 21-18 on the season with a 12-5 record in Ivy League play. The Lions remain a half-game ahead of Penn (13-7 Ivy) for second place. Harvard (13-4 Ivy) sits alone in first after taking two games from Yale.
Junior catcher Amanda Nishihira provided the game-one heroics, hitting a three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to break open a tie game. Penn answered with two runs on a pair of sac flies in the seventh but Madison Canby was able to shut the door, getting Corrie Phillips to ground out to end the ball game.
Sophomore shortstop Maria Pagane hit two home runs on the afternoon. She smacked a solo shot to lead off the first game and started a seventh-inning rally in game two with her second of the day. The Lions entered the inning trailing, 4-2, and put the tying run on base after Pagane's home run. Penn's Julia Longo retired the heart of the order in succession to salvage a split.
"This is a great environment. It's getting us ready and hopefully we come to the field tomorrow and win the series," head coach Jennifer Teague said. "Our defense was a little shaky today, but for the most part we put the ball in play. I thought we could have done a little bit better of a job scoring with some timely hits, but we've still got a chance tomorrow to win the series and that would put us in a good spot."
Canby improved to 9-7 on the season with her Ivy League-leading 11th complete game. She allowed just two earned runs, spreading seven hits and three walks across seven frames. First-year pitcher Alexa Pinarksi (11-8) took the loss in game two, allowing only three earned runs across seven innings on nine hits and two walks.
First-year Hailey Wetherill put together a three-hit day at the plate, getting all three hits in game two. Nishihira was 2-for-4 with the homer, three RBIs and two walks. Pagane was 2-for-6 with the two solo home runs.
The rubber game of the series will take back at the Columbia Softball Stadium on Sunday at 12 p.m. The game has been moved up 30 minutes in an effort to avoid inclement weather.
Game 1 Recap: Columbia 6 – Penn 5
Columbia fought off multiple Penn rallies and came away with a one-run victory, 6-5, in the front end of Saturday's doubleheader.
Despite just four hits, the Lions pushed across six runs with the help of two walks and three Penn errors. Maria Pagane led off the Columbia first with a solo shot and the Lions never trailed, scoring five unearned runs on the way to victory.
Jennifer Brann (6-6) took the loss for Penn albeit with just one earned run allowed. A dropped fly ball off the bat of Nishihira in the fourth plated two runs. Nishihira came back up to bat in the sixth and launched a three-run shot to left that finally proved to be enough.
Columbia's defense committed a couple of errors themselves, leading to three unearned runs for Penn. Canby was charged with just two earned runs over seven innings, walking three and scattering seven hits on 136 pitches.
Penn tied the game up for the first time in the third. A dropped ball at first base allowed Jessica England to reach with two outs. Two batters later, Lucy Yang popped a ball up between first and second base that fell without any Lion making a play on the ball. England scored all the way from second to make it a 1-1 game.
A two-out walk to Alexandra Yule and a double by Jordan Townsend off a diving attempt by the Penn shortstop set the table for the Lions in the fourth. Nishihira stepped up, worked a full count and got into a ball high and deep to left. Corrie Phillips went back for the catch but the ball tipped off her glove and landed on the warning track, scoring both Yule and Townsend to put the Lions back on top.
Penn got both runs right back in the fifth. A two-out error at second base with two Quakers on base allowed England to score and make it a 3-2 game. Penn then attempted a double-steal to try and score the tying run. Nishihira threw down to second and Pagane cut off the throw. Her return throw home was in time but Yang was ruled safe, sliding around the tag of Nishihira.
After a quiet fifth on both sides, the Lions took full advantage of Penn's third error of the game in the sixth. Sommer Grzybek doubled on the first pitch of the inning and Yule reached on a throwing error by the third baseman to put two on. After Townsend lined out to left, Nishihira came back to the dish with two down and crushed a 2-2 pitch beyond the left field wall.
Columbia took its 6-3 lead into the seventh and held on. England singled and Sarah Cwiertnia doubled to put two in scoring position and bring the tying run to the plate with nobody out. The Quakers hit consecutive sac flies to make it a 6-5 game but left themselves with just one out remaining. Canby got Phillips to ground out to Townsend to end the ball game.
Game 2 Recap: Penn 4 – Columbia 3
Columbia went down 3-0 and nearly rallied all the way back, but Penn did just enough in the end to salvage a Saturday split, 4-3.
Starting pitcher Julia Longo (6-4) picked up the win for Penn. She tossed the first 4.1 innings before Abigail Abramson was called on in relief in the fifth. Abramson then got herself into trouble in the seventh before Longo reentered and closed the door.
Alexa Pinarski (11-8) worked around two hits and an error to keep Penn off the board in the first. She then retired six of seven over the second and third innings before the Quakers struck for three runs in the fourth. Hannah Gibbons drove in the first run with a double to right center. The next batter, Corrie Phillips, hit a two-run homer to right to make it a 3-0 game.
The Lions got one of those runs back right away. Ortega reached on one of Penn's two errors in the game to lead off the frame. Sommer Grzybek then stepped up and hit a single to right center that Ortega went first-to-third on. The throw into the infield hit off the second base bag, allowing Ortega to score and allowing Grzybek to go all the way to third. Lauren Apollaro entered to pinch run but was stranded 60 feet away as Longo got out of the inning without any further damage.
Another leadoff baserunner in the fifth led to a run and cut the lead to one. Nishihira singled to center, advanced to second on a passed ball and was sacrificed to third by Amber Swinarski. Maria Pagane was hit by a pitch during her at-bat to bring Hailey Wetherill to the plate, who smacked an RBI single to left center for the second Columbia run of the game.
Columbia had a chance to tie the game after Ortega was hit by another Longo pitch to load the bases for Grzybek. Penn went to the bullpen for Abramson with Grzybek due up. A pitch in the dirt during Grzybek's at-bat trickled away from the catcher, Sarah Ketring, and Pagane broke for home. However, Ketring was able to recover in time and tag out Pagane for the second out. Grzybek flew out to end the threat.
Penn took advantage of a Columbia error in the sixth to increase its lead to 4-2, which remained the score entering the bottom of the seventh. Pagane sparked a rally with a leadoff home run off Abramson to make it a one-run game again. Wetherill followed with an infield single, which forced Penn head coach Leslie King's hand in favor of her starting pitcher, Longo. The move proved to be the right one for the Quakers, as Long retired Ortega, Grzybek and Stuart in order to finish off the ball game.
