Columbia University
Monmouth
Softball Rounds Out Homestand Wednesday Against Monmouth
4/12/2022 2:51:00 PM | Softball
Lions and Hawks set to renew 22-year-old rivalry
NEW YORK — The Columbia softball team (8-20, 5-7 Ivy) closes out an eight-game homestand on Wednesday when it hosts Monmouth (6-28, 1-5 MAAC) from the Columbia Softball Stadium at the Baker Athletics Complex. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET.
GAME COVERAGE:
Wednesday's game will be streamed live on ESPN+. Live stats will be provided by GoColumbiaLions.com.
RIVALRY RENEWED
The series between the Lions and Hawks dates back to Columbia's first year of varsity softball, when the Lions visited the Jersey Shore for a doubleheader on March 29, 2000. Monmouth won the first game before the two sides played to a draw in the back end due to darkness. They didn't meet again until 2003, when Columbia swept a doubleheader by scores of 4-2 and 5-2 on April 30 to close out the season. Since then, the series is nearly deadlocked with the Hawks holding a slight 11-10-1 edge. Monmouth broke the tie with an 8-2 victory in the last meeting back on April 10, 2019 in New York. It was the third matchup of the year between the two programs, which split two games to open the season at the FIU Panther Invitational.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
NCAA Softball named a photo of Bubba Gleaves' diving catch to win the second game of last weekend's series against Yale its Photo of the Week. The photo of Gleaves was one of four nominated and received an overwhelming 55.4 percent of the fan vote. There were 3,202 votes submitted in the poll by @NCAASoftball on Twitter.
LAST TIME OUT
Columbia is coming off a weekend series against Yale, in which the Lions were able to take the middle game of the set by a score of 3-1. Starting pitcher Raquel Reyes highlighted the victory, going five strong innings while allowing just a run on three hits and three walks. She also struck out four. Reyes handed the ball off to Kaia McCaul in the sixth, who retired the final six batters she faced to earn her first collegiate save.
Every game of last weekend's series was decided by two runs. Jaden Hill highlighted an 11-9 loss in the opener, going 4-for-4 at the plate with two home runs, a double and a career-high six RBI. Columbia came all the way back from five runs down to lead, 8-7, heading to the seventh, but Yale scored four unearned runs to steal the victory. Columbia also led in Sunday's series finale, 1-0, after five innings, but surrendered a two-run homer to Willa Ferrer in the sixth and could not rally.
STAT LEADERS
Columbia's offense is led by Abby Stuart, who is hitting .372 (32-86) so far this season with a 1.083 OPS. She ranks top five in the Ivy League in batting average, OPS, runs scored (16), hits (32), home runs (7), RBI (18), total bases (56) and slugging (.651). Five of Stuart's seven home runs this season have come against Ivy League competition. Meanwhile, Maddie Souza (.284), Jaden Hill (.277), Maria Pagane (.274) and Bubba Gleaves (.273) are all hitting north of .270.
First-year Jordan Hill heads the pitching staff with a 3.55 ERA. Hill is 4-7 on the year with four complete games and one shutout in 71 innings pitched. Raquel Reyes lowered her ERA to 4.20 with a quality two-game performance last weekend against Yale. Kaia McCaul did not allow an earned run through two relief outings in that series and lowered her ERA to 4.63. Reyes and McCaul have combined to throw 103.1 innings.
IVY HONORS
Columbia has earned two of the Ivy League's softball Player of the Week honors so far this season. All of Columbia's Ivy accolades this season are listed below.
Player of the Week:
- Abby Stuart (March 28)
Rookie of the Week:
- Jordan Hill (March 21)
Honor Roll:
Feb. 28: Bubba Gleaves, Raquel Reyes
March 7: Maddie Souza, Maria Pagane
March 14: Lauren Apollaro, Jordan Hill
March 21: Bubba Gleaves
March 28: Jaden Hill, Jordan Hill
April 4: Maddie Souza, Abby Stuart
April 12: Jaden Hill, Raquel Reyes
THE OPPONENT
The reigning Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular season champions went 25-7 through league play a year ago, but are rebuilding this year with a 6-28 record and 1-5 mark against MAAC competition. The Hawks have dropped six of their last seven, including a doubleheader at home on Sunday to Canisius by scores of 6-0 and 5-1.
The offense is led by senior Lindsey Baron, who is hitting a team-best .337 with 12 doubles, two home runs and 13 RBI. Her .548 slugging percentage and 57 total bases also lead the squad. Fifth-year Stavi Augur is hitting .291 and has a pair of home runs to go along with a team-high 17 RBI. Sophomore Abby Warner also has some pop, leading the Hawks with three home runs despite hitting just .165.
In the circle, Kylie Gletow (4-12) and Billie Kerwood (2-13) have combined to throw 197 1/3 of the team's 219 2/3 total innings pitched. Gletow boasts a team-best 4.28 ERA. Kerwood has struck out nearly a batter per inning, entering Wednesday with 85 punchouts in 89 1/3 frames. Kerwood also carries the lowest batting average against at .279.
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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.
