NEW YORK – For the first time in its 20 years of existence, the Columbia softball program is headed to the postseason.
The Lions took a five-run lead and held on through a tumultuous seventh inning to win the rubber game of their series against Penn, 5-4, Sunday afternoon at the Columbia Softball Stadium. With the win, Columbia (22-18, 13-5 Ivy) clinched a berth to its first Ivy League Playoff Series and moved back into a tie for first place in the league standings with Harvard.
"We knew with Penn coming in that it was going to be a fight. They are the best hitting team in the conference, statistically, and I'm just really proud of my team for fighting," fifth-year head coach Jennifer Teague said. "We played good defense when we needed it and had timely hits when we needed them. Today's atmosphere was a playoff atmosphere. It's good for our team to feel the pressure and really fight through to win the series."
The series victory combined with Princeton's loss on Sunday to Cornell puts the Lions three games ahead of both Penn (13-8 Ivy) and Princeton (10-8 Ivy) in the loss column. The Lions won the season series against both teams and would advance to the Ivy League Playoff Series in any of the possible tiebreak scenarios.
"My coaching staff, we've all won championships at different levels … we just want it so bad for them," Teague added. "We want them to feel the reward at the end for hard work, persistence and trusting their process. We were so close last year and it means the world to the program, the team and to us for them to be able to feel that."
Sunday's Ivy League results also saw Harvard fall to Yale, which pulled the Lions back into a tie with the Crimson atop the standings. Columbia can clinch a share of its first Ivy League title by sweeping Brown next weekend and would host the Ivy League Playoff Series if it finishes ahead of Harvard in the standings. The Crimson have yet to clinch their playoff spot but would do so with just one win next weekend against Cornell.
As for Sunday's game, the Lions scored three runs in the third and tacked on two very important insurance runs in the sixth. Sommer Grzybek hit her Ivy League-leading ninth home run of the season, a two-run shot over the left-field fence, as part of the three-run third and went 2-for-3 at the dish. Maria Pagane was also 2-for-3 with a run scored.
Alexa Pinarski got the start in the circle and improved to 12-8 on the season. She went 5.1 innings, allowing no runs on four hits with two strikeouts. Madison Canby entered in relief with two on in the sixth after a ball lined off Pinarski's leg. Despite four unearned runs crossing the plate in the seventh, Canby went on to pick up her third save.
Penn loaded the bases with nobody out trailing 5-0 in the seventh. Canby struck out Hannah Gibbons looking for the first out, but the Quakers capitalized on an error in center on a fly ball off the bat of Corrie Phillips. The drop allowed two runs to score and brought the tying run to the plate. After a groundout plated the third run of the inning, Kayla Ketring singled to center to make it a one-run game and put the tying run on base. Canby ended the comeback by getting Sam Pederson to ground out on a slow roller to Max Ortega.
The Lions took advantage of a Penn error in the third to build their lead. With Amber Swinarski on first, Maria Pagane hit a single to deep short that Jessica England booted into left field. The ball rolled all the way against the fence beyond the foul line, bringing Swinarski all the way home with the first run. However, she would have scored anyway, as two batters later Sommer Grzybek took a pitch up and in and lined it over the fence in left, increasing Columbia's lead to 3-0.
What proved to be two crucial insurance runs came across in the sixth. Ortega and Grzybek singled to set the table. Alexandra Yule hit a sac fly to left to score Ortega and make it a 4-0 game. The next batter, Jordan Townsend, sent a soft liner to second that popped out of the glove of Sam Pederson, allowing the pinch-runner Lauren Apollaro to cross home.
Columbia has three games remaining in the regular season as it hosts Brown for Senior Weekend. Saturday's doubleheader is slated for 12:30 p.m. The senior class will be honored in a pregame ceremony prior to Sunday's first pitch.
