CAMBRIDGE, Mass. —  The Columbia softball team opened up a three-game series at Harvard by splitting a doubleheader, falling in Saturday's first game, 14-1 (5), before bouncing back to win game two, 10-9.
Columbia (14-13, 6-2 Ivy) maintained its lead in the Ivy League standings. Harvard (11-13, 5-3 Ivy) remains a game back of the Lions. The rubber game of the series scheduled for Sunday at 12:30 p.m. and can be viewed on ESPN+.
The day was highlighted by a home run apiece from Max Ortega and Abby Stuart, as well sophomore Maria Pagane's combined 5-for-6 performance at the plate. Pagane doubled, walked twice, scored two runs and drove in two more, reaching base in seven of her eight plate appearances. Ortega hit a three-run homer as part of Columbia's seven-run second in game two while Stuart padded the lead with a two-run shot in the sixth.
Alexa Pinarski started in the win and went the distance to improve to 8-4 on the year. She stranded 10 Crimson runners on base, including the tying run 60 feet away in the seventh.
Game 1 Recap: Harvard 14 – Columbia 1 (F/5)
Harvard scored 10 runs in the fourth on its way to winning the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, 14-1.
Katie Duncan (6-5) took the win for the Crimson, tossing all five innings and allowing a run 10 hits. Columbia got to her for a run in the first but Duncan ultimately stranded 10 Lions on base, striking out three.
Harvard entered the fourth inning with a 4-1 lead and loaded the bases with two outs against Columbia starter Madison Canby. A two-run single by Morgan Melito sandwiched around two bases-loaded walks pushed the Crimson ahead, 8-1, and ended Canby's day. Erin Gallo came on in relief but walked in another run before pop fly to shallow center off the bat of Megan Welsh fell between three Lions and cleared the bases. Two more RBI singles brought in the ninth and 10th runs of the inning.
Canby surrendered 11 runs, only four of which were earned. All 10 of Harvard's runs in the fourth were unearned after an error extended the inning. Gallo allowed three runs in the inning on three hits.
Maria Pagane went 3-for-3 at the dish with Columbia's lone run scored, coming around on a bases-loaded walk to Abby Stuart in the first. The Lions had a chance to add to the lead but stranded the bases loaded.
Harvard answered with three runs in the home half of the first. Meagan Lantz put the Crimson on the board with an RBI double off the centerfield wall to bring home Trina Hoang from second. Columbia cut down a run at the plate when Kaitlyn Schiffhauer attempted to score on a grounder to third, but the Crimson still put up two more in the frame on Erin Lockhart's RBI single.
Columbia loaded the bases again in the second but could not score. Singles by Amanda Nishihira, Maria Pagane and Genny Soltesz brought Max Ortega to bat with one out. She hit the first pitch she saw hard to third but Harvard's Teagan Shaw was able to corral it and fire home for the force. The Crimson ended the inning when Grzybek grounded into a force at third.
Canby got through the second cleanly but Harvard tagged her for an insurance run in the third before putting the game away in the fourth.
Game 2 Recap: Columbia 10 – Harvard 9
Columbia scored seven in the second and held off Harvard to hang onto first place and earn a split of Saturday's doubleheader, 10-9.
Max Ortega and Abby Stuart provided five of Columbia's runs with the long ball. Ortega blasted a three-run shot as part of the big second and Stuart added some much-needed insurance with a two-run blast in the sixth. Stuart also tripled to finish the game 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs. Maria Pagane drove in a pair, going 2-for-3 with a double and two walks.
Alexa Pinarski did just enough in the circle to force a rubber game on Sunday. Harvard got to the rookie for nine runs, eight earned, on 13 hits. The Crimson put up three runs in their half of the second and added two in the fifth and three in the seventh. Pinarski stranded the tying run 60 feet away by catching a soft pop up to end the ball game.
Alissa Hiener (0-6) took the loss for Harvard, starting and lasting just 1.2 innings before Grace Krantz relieved her in the second. Hiener was charged with seven runs on seven hits and two walks. Krantz allowed three runs in the sixth.
The Lions were unable to take advantage of a leadoff double by Maria Pagane and Harvard opened the scoring by turning around with a run in the home half of the first. Rhianna Rich drew a leadoff walk and came around to score on and RBI single by Schiffhauer. Pinarski struck out Megan Lantz and got out of the inning with just the one run allowed.
This time, Columbia answered in a big way, scoring seven runs in the second to take command of the game. After Jordan Townsend and Pinarski both reached to lead off the inning, Amanda Nishihira doubled to left to tie the game and put two in scoring position. Back-to-back RBI singles by Maria Pagane and Genny Soltesz put the Lions in front, but the big hit came from Ortega, blasting a three-run shot to left on the first pitch of the at-bat and opening up the lead to 6-1.
Harvard went to the bullpen for Krantz following Ortega's homer. Abby Stuart greeted her with a triple to right before scoring Columbia's seventh run of the inning on a passed ball. Krantz finally put an end to it after Columbia batted around by getting Townsend to ground out.
The Crimson cut Columbia's lead in half with three runs in the bottom half. Erin Lockhart led off the inning with a double and came around to score on Megan Welsh's two-out double. Hoang drove in the next two runs with a single to left that snuck under the glove of Wetherill in left.
Columbia's cushion was trimmed all the way to a single run when Harvard scored twice in the fifth. Megan Welsh and Rhianna Rich each provided two-out RBI singles. The Lions threw out Rich going for second on the throw home to get out of the inning.
The Lions bounced back with a three-run sixth. Sommer Grzybek singled to put Columbia's leadoff batter on base for the sixth straight inning. Hailey Wetherill entered to pinch run but her speed was not needed. Abby Stuart got ahead in the count 2-0 and drove the next pitch she saw deep and gone to center to make it a 9-6 game. The Lions added one more to their lead on a Harvard error to go in front by four.
Harvard made for a nervous finish. Pinarski walked two Crimson batters with one out. A missed tag on a ball hit to third by Megan Welsh led to the first run of the inning before Rich singled to left to make it a 10-8 game. Pinarski got Hoang to ground into a fielder's choice for the second out but Schiffhauer singled in the third run of the inning to make it a one-run ball game. A lazy pop out to Pinarski ended the comeback.
