MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. – The Columbia softball team earned two victories to open the 2020 season on Friday, shutting out Providence, 6-0, and muscling past Georgetown, 2-1. The doubleheader was the first of five games this weekend that the Lions will play down in Madeira Beach, Florida at The Spring Games.
 
The pair of wins earned Columbia its first 2-0 start since 2008. The pitching staff was a big reason why, allowing just one run on four hits in the two games combined. Senior Madison Canby and sophomore Monique Benjamin earned a combined shutout in the opener, while senior Erin Gallo and first-year Kaia McCaul combined for a one-hitter against the Hoyas.
 
"I thought they did a great job," said sixth-year head coach Jennifer Teague when asked about the performance of her pitching staff. "We put a lot of people on bases but we worked out of those situations. We have to work on control but we had a ton of fight. It's super exciting and I think we're in a good place."
 
Canby twirled six shutout innings against Providence (2-4) and struck out a career-high nine. The senior did allow two hits and five walks but used her veteran experience to work her way out of every jam.
 
"She was brilliant," Teague added. "She walked more people than she would like but she just kept fighting. She was the veteran pitcher that we need and threw like she was ready to go. If she can have those kinds of performances I think we'll be alright."
 
The offense was led by a couple of returning All-Ivy League infielders, Max Ortega and Maria Pagane. The duo went 5-of-13 at the dish and drove in two runs. Meanwhile, first-years Bubba Gleaves and Danielle Mandichak were a combined 4-for-6. Mandichak had a big three-run double in her first collegiate at-bat.
 
The Lions continue their weekend at The Spring Games with a doubleheader on Saturday. Action begins at 11 a.m. against Stony Brook, followed by a 1:30 p.m. first pitch against Albany.
 
Every game this weekend can be watched live with a paid subscription to FloSoftball. Click here to sign up and to access the games.
 
For the latest on Columbia Softball, follow @CULionssoftball on Twitter and Instagram, and the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.
 
 
Game 1 Recap: Columbia 6, Providence 0
Senior Madison Canby had everything working on Friday, fanning a career-high nine Providence hitters over six innings of work to help lead the Columbia softball team past the Friars, 6-0, in game one of the The Spring Games down in Madeira Beach.
 
In addition to her nine strikeouts, Canby (1-0) tossed six shutout innings while giving up just two hits and walking five for Columbia (1-0). Sophomore Monique Benjamin finished off the combined shutout, throwing one scoreless inning while allowing one hit and a walk with two strikeouts.
 
Danielle Mandichak made a big impact in her collegiate debut. The rookie out of Laguna Niguel, California led the way offensively for the Lions by going 1-for-3 with a double and three RBIs. Sophomore Hailey Wetherill and first-year Bubba Gleaves each went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
 
For the Friars (2-4), sophomore Daniela Alvarez took the loss (1-3), allowing six earned runs on 10 hits over six innings.
 
The Lions used a five-run first, all with two outs, to kick off the season in style. Abby Stuart singled in the first run of the year to crack the scoreboard. After Amanda Nishihira drew a walk to load the bases, Mandichak stepped up and smacked a three-run double in her first collegiate at-bat to make it a 4-0 game. Gleaves followed with an RBI single to bring home Mandichak and increase the lead to 5-0.
 
The Lions added another two-out run in the sixth inning on a single by Hailey Wetherill that scored Nishihira.
 
Canby retired nine of the first 11 batters she faced, punching out five across the first three innings. The most trouble she got into was in the fourth, when she walked two with one out but worked around it by striking out Magrino and getting Nunez to ground out to end the inning,
 
Benjamin struck out two and left two stranded in the seventh to polish off the victory.
 
 
Game 2 Recap: Columbia 2, Georgetown 1
Columbia's pitching showcased itself once again, holding the Georgetown Hoyas to just one run on one hit and the Lions lineup did the rest, pushing just enough runners across to eke out the 2-1 victory.
 
First-year Kaia McCaul (1-0) picked up the victory out of the bullpen for Columbia (2-0). The left-hander went 4.2 shutout innings while giving up one hit. She entered with the bases loaded and one out in a 2-1 game in the third but induced a double play to get out of the jam.
 
Juniors Max Ortega and Maria Pagane led the way offensively for the Lions. Ortega was 2-for-3 in the ballgame with an RBI while Pagane was 1-for-4 with the other RBI. Both hits came in the top of the third to put the Lions up, 2-0.
 
Columbia's run-scoring inning started with Danielle Mandichak and Amber Swinarski both reaching on errors. Pagane singled to left to bring home Mandichak with the game's first run. Two batters later, Ortega singled with two down to score Swinarski from third.
 
Senior Erin Gallo got the start in the circle and did not allow a hit over her 2.1 innings of work. Gallo's control got away from her in the third, walking two batters and hitting two more to plate Georgetown's only run. She and McCaul combined for a one-hitter.
 
McCaul was dominant from there, allowing just a hit and two walks the rest of the way.
 
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