Columbia Set for Ivy League Playoff Series at Harvard

Friday, May 10

Cambridge, Mass.

1:30 P.M.

Columbia University

Harvard

Softball Headline 2019 Ivy League Playoff Series Preview

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/Mike McLaughlin

Columbia Set for Ivy League Playoff Series at Harvard

5/9/2019 11:31:00 AM | Softball

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Lions to battle Crimson for a ticket to NCAA Regionals

NEW YORK — After 923 games spanning 19-plus seasons, the Columbia softball program will make its Ivy League postseason debut this weekend against top-seeded Harvard in the 2019 Ivy League Playoff Series. The best-of-three set will be held Friday and Saturday at Soldiers Field in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with the winner earning the right to represent the Ancient Eight at NCAA Regionals.

First pitch for Friday's series opener is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. The second game will be held Saturday, also at 1:30, followed by the third game, if necessary, approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game two.

All three games 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.

Live stats will be provided by HarvardSports.com and will also be available on IvyLeagueSports.com. Fans can also keep up with the action on Twitter by following @CULionsSoftball.

HOW THEY GOT HERE
Columbia (24-19, 15-6 Ivy) will play in its first Ivy League postseason series after finishing second in the regular season. The Lions swept Dartmouth and Cornell and took two-of-three from Princeton, Yale, Penn and Brown. They dropped just one series during the season, which came against the team they will face this weekend, and finished two games clear of the third-place Quakers to qualify for the playoffs. Harvard (23-17, 16-5 Ivy) bounced back from losing its opening series at Penn to go 15-3 the rest of the way and win the Ivy League Championship. The Crimson swept Brown, Dartmouth and Cornell, and took two-of-three from Columbia, Princeton and Yale. Seven of Harvard's 16 Ivy victories either came by one run or were decided in extra innings. This is Harvard's fourth-straight year competing in the Ivy League's postseason series. The Crimson won the 2018 edition in two games at Dartmouth.

RECORD-BREAKING SEASON
Columbia enters the postseason after going 24-19 through the regular season with a 15-6 record in Ivy League play. Its 15 Ivy League wins broke the program record for a second consecutive season (13-8, 2018), while its .558 overall winning percentage currently stands as the program's best. The Lions would guarantee their winningest season by taking at least one game over the weekend against Harvard. The current record is .540, held by the 2002 team that went 27-23. That year's team also holds the record for most wins.

IVY LEAGUE POSTSEASON FIRST
Since the Ivy League switched to a playoff format in 2007, Columbia was one of only three teams that had yet to appear in its postseason championship (Brown, Yale). Of those teams, only Columbia and Yale have never represented the Ivy League at NCAA Regionals – Brown did so as winners of the regular season in 1997.

ALL-IVY ACCOLADES
Columbia earned seven All-Ivy League honors and one postseason award on Wednesday, highlighted by Jennifer Teague being named Ivy League Coach of the Year. It was the first such award for Teague and the first for Columbia since the Ivy League introduced it to softball in 2015. The league coaches also voted four Lions as First Team All-Ivy League honorees. The quartet consisted of junior Sommer Grzybek (UT), sophomore Max Ortega (3B), sophomore Maria Pagane (SS) and first-year Alexa Pinarski (P), marking the program's most first-team honorees in its 20-year history. Pinarski's first-team selection was the first by a Columbia rookie since Hall of Fame pitcher Jackie Adelfio '06SEAS in 2003. Junior pitcher Madison Canby earned second-team honors, helping Columbia set another program record with five combined first- and second-team selections. Additionally, junior catcher Amanda Nishihira and rookie first baseman Abby Stuart earned honorable-mention status.

The 2019 @IvyLeague Coach of the Year is our own Jennifer Teague! This is her 1st Coach of the Year award. Congratulations Coach! #RoarLionRoar #Team20 🦁🥎 pic.twitter.com/gez42VXmZe
— Columbia Softball (@CULionsSoftball) May 8, 2019

COLUMBIA BULLETS
- Columbia led the Ivy League through the regular season in runs (206), home runs (31), RBIs (180) and walks (123). The Lions ranked No. 2 in triples (13), total bases (470), slugging (.433) and on-base percentage (.361).

- Sophomore third baseman Max Ortega led the Ivy League through the regular season in hits (53), triples (4), runs (35) and RBIs (40). She ranks top-five in the league in batting average (.396), doubles (10), total bases (83) and slugging (.619). Ortega is currently tied with Madison Gott '18CC for Columbia's single-season RBIs record, which Gott set in 2017. She is two runs short of tying the record of 37 set by Kayla Lechler '12CC in 2010.

- Sophomore Maria Pagane shared the Ivy League lead in triples (4) with Ortega, ranked No. 2 in runs (32), No. 3 in hits (52), No. 3 in total bases (82), top-10 in slugging (.566), as well as top-15 in both batting average (.359) and doubles (7). She was even better against league competition, ranking fifth in batting average (.431), fourth in runs (20), second in hits (31), sixth in doubles (5), fifth in home runs (4), second in total bases (50), fifth in slugging (.694) and sixth in OBP (.488).

- Junior Sommer Grzybek is one home run away from 25 in her career, which would put her in sole possession of second on Columbia's all-time list. The junior is also one home run away from tying the single-season record of 10. Grzybek's nine home runs on the year led the Ivy League. She ranked No. 2 in slugging (.701) and top-10 in RBIs (27), total bases (68), batting average (.361), on-base percentage (.462) and walks (16).

- First-year Abby Stuart ranked top-five in the Ivy League through the regular season in home runs (6) and No. 6 in RBIs (27).

- Columbia boasts three of the Ivy League's top seven players in RBIs in Ortega (40), Grzybek (27) and Stuart (27). Amanda Nishihira ranked 11th with 24.

- Junior pitcher Madison Canby (10-7) led the Ivy League with 12 complete games while ranking No. 3 in wins, saves (3), and innings pitched (118.0). She was also top-10 in ERA (3.03), strikeouts (58) and batting average against (.281). Canby stepped it up against Ivy League competition, where she was 5-2 with a 2.69 ERA, carrying top-10 marks in ERA, wins, innings pitched and BAA (.266).

- First-year pitcher Alexa Pinarski (13-9) completed her first collegiate regular season No. 2 in the Ivy League in wins, tied for second in shutouts (3), No. 3 in complete games (10), No. 5 in innings pitched (116.0) and No. 9 in ERA (3.56). She was 9-4 with a 2.48 ERA in Ivy League play, where she tossed all three of her shutouts and ranked second in the league in wins, ERA and complete games (8).

- Columbia's pitching staff boasted a league-best 2.82 ERA against Ivy League competition, which included four shutouts. Alexa Pinarski (2.48) and Madison Canby (2.69) carried two of the top six ERAs individually. The duo also boasted two of the league's top-10 ERAs on the season overall and combined for 22 complete games, the most of any two teammates in the Ancient Eight.

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
April 15: Sommer Grzybek – Player of the Week
April 15: Abby Stuart – Rookie of the Week
April 29: Maria Pagane – Player of the Week
April 29: Alexa Pinarski – Pitcher and Rookie of the Week
May 6: Alexa Pinarski – Rookie of the Week

🔙✌️🔙 @IvyLeague Rookie of the Week selections for Alexa Pinarski! #RoarLionRoar #Team20 🦁🥎

📰 https://t.co/4ttomYlEii pic.twitter.com/gxfpYrTvLH
— Columbia Softball (@CULionsSoftball) May 7, 2019

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
April 1: Maria Pagane, Alexa Pinarski
April 8: Maria Pagane, Genny Soltesz
April 15: Madison Canby
April 22: Madison Canby, Max Ortega, Maria Pagane
April 29: Madison Canby
May 6: Max Ortega, Maria Pagane, Hailey Wetherill

SCOUTING THE CRIMSON
Harvard enters the Ivy League Playoff Series following a three-game sweep over Cornell to win the outright regular-season championship. They've won five of their last six heading into Friday and will be playing in their fourth consecutive championship series. The Crimson are led by two-time reigning Ivy League Pitcher of the Year Katie Duncan, who was unanimously voted the accolade this season after going 16-5, 13-2 Ivy, with a 2.73 ERA and conference-leading 93 strikeouts in 141 innings pitched. The offense is hitting .284 as a team, headed by Meagan Lantz's .320 average, 41 hits and 10 doubles. Morgan Melito is the team-leader in RBIs (26), two ahead of Lantz, while Rhianna Rich has scored a team-high 32 runs and Teagan Shaw has hit a team-best six homers.

THE SERIES
Harvard leads the all-time matchup, 31-13, winning two-of-three earlier this season in Cambridge. The Lions swept a two-game set in 2017. This will be the first time the two sides have met in the Ivy League playoffs and the second time they have met in any postseason contest. They played three games against each other at the 2002 ECAC Championships. Harvard went 2-1 against the Lions in that series.