NEW YORK — Columbia softball heads back down to Florida for a second straight weekend to play five games in Orlando at the UCF invitational. Action gets underway Friday afternoon at the UCF Softball Complex when the Lions take on both Longwood and LIU.
Live stats will be available for all five of Columbia's game this weekend courtesy of UCF and StatBroadcast.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday
- Columbia (3-2) vs. Longwood (3-6) – 2 p.m. |
Live Stats
- Columbia (3-6) vs LIU (5-8) – 4 p.m. |
Live Stats
Saturday
- Columbia vs. Drexel (0-0) – 11 a.m. |
Live Stats
Sunday
- Columbia vs. Drexel (0-0) – 10:30 a.m. |
Live Stats
- Columbia vs. Ball State (10-5) – 12:30 p.m. |
Live Stats
OPENING WEEKEND WRAPUP
Columbia went 3-2 on opening weekend at The Spring Games, contested in Madeira Beach, Florida. The Lions rode a strong opening-day pitching performance to defeat Providence, 6-0, and Georgetown, 2-1, starting the season 2-0 for the first time since 2008. Senior
Madison Canby went the first six innings against Providence and sophomore
Monique Benjamin polished off the combined shutout in the seventh. First-year
Danielle Mandichak drove in three runs in her first collegiate at-bat as part of Columbia's five-run first to build an early advantage.
The following day, Columbia was dealt its first loss of the year by Stony Brook, 9-5, before bouncing back to defeat Albany, 2-1, in walk-off fashion. Junior
Max Ortega delivered the game-winning hit as part of a two-run bottom of the seventh that earn head coach
Jennifer Teague her 100th win at Columbia. The tournament concluded on Sunday against Colgate, a game in which Columbia led 6-0 but wound up losing in extras, 9-8.
COLUMBIA NOTES
OFF TO A GODO START
Columbia won its first two games of the season and posted a record of 3-2 on opening weekend at The Spring Games. The 3-2 start is Columbia's best since 2008, when the Lions also won their first two games. Last weekend, the Lions shut out Providence, 6-0, for their first win and later edged out Georgetown, 2-1. Columbia also earned a 2-1 win over Albany.
100 WINS FOR COACH TEAGUE
Head coach
Jennifer Teague won her 100th game at Columbia last weekend in the team's 2-1 victory over Albany. The Lions entered the bottom of the seventh trailing 1-0 and scored two runs to earn the walk-off win. Teague, the third head coach in the program's 21-year history, is the second of those three to reach the 100-win plateau. She has coached the Lions to back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2001-02.
ALL-IVY RETURNERS
This year, Columbia returns six All-Ivy League selections, including First Team honorees
Max Ortega,
Maria Pagane and
Sommer Grzybek. Pagane and Grzybek also earned NFCA All-Region honors, becoming the first pair of Lions to be named to an all-region team in program history.
Madison Canby earned second-team honors a year ago as a junior, while senior
Amanda Nishihira returns behind the plate and sophomore
Abby Stuart returns at first base afte being voted All-Ivy Honorable Mention.
SWINARSKI HAS SENIOR CLASS
Amber Swinarski has been selected as a candidate for the 2020 Senior CLASS Award. Thirty softball candidates from around the country were announced back on Feb. 18. Swinarski, who carries a 3.95 GPA as a sustainable development major with a concentration in business management at Columbia College, is Columbia's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee President and has been a member of the committee all four years. She also is a New Student Orientation Program (NSOP) leader and a member of Female Athletes Stand Together (FAST).
Swinarski's Senior CLASS award bio page can be viewed by clicking this link.
OFFENSIVE POWERHOUSE
Last season, Columbia ranked among the top three teams in the Ivy League in several offensive categories, which include slugging percentage (.432), total runs (214), runs per game (4.76), on-base percentage (.360) and home runs (32), triples (14), RBI (185) and walks (129)
PRESEASON FAVORITES
Columbia was voted as the preseason favorite in the 2020 Ivy League poll. The No. 1 preseason selection is Columbia's first in program history. The Lions received 10 of the 16 first-place votes and 120 total votes overall, eight ahead of second-place Penn. Last season, Columbia went 24-21 and finished second in the Ivy League with a record of 15-6. The 15 Ivy wins marked the most in program history and helped Columbia qualify for the 2019 Ivy League Playoff Series.
SERIES VS. OPPONENTS
Columbia vs. Longwood
- Friday will mark the first meeting between the Lions and Lancers.
Columbia vs. LIU
- LIU leads 1-0
- The two teams met for the first time last year in Brooklyn with the Sharks coming out on top, 8-0.
Columbia vs. Drexel
- This weekend will mark the first two meetings between the two teams.
Columbia vs. Ball State
- This weekend will mark the first two meetings between the two teams.
For the latest on the Columbia softball program, follow @CULionsSoftball on
Twitter and
Instagram, on Facebook at
Facebook.com/CULionsSoftball. You can view all the latest with the Lions on the web at
GoColumbiaLions.com/Softball.
