PROVIDENCE, R.I. — History was made in more ways than one on Saturday, as the Columbia softball team bounced back to win both ends of a doubleheader at Brown by scores of 6-4 and 1-0.
Saturday's first win resulted in the 200th NCAA head coaching victory for
Jennifer Teague, who earned 88 in her tenure at Buffalo and now has 113 at Columbia. Two hours later, Teague looked on as sophomore
Raquel Reyes delivered just the fourth no-hitter in Columbia softball's 22-year history. Reyes allowed only two baserunners through the 83-pitch effort, posting the first no-hitter since
Maggie Johnson '11CC accomplished the feat on April 24, 2011 against Princeton.
"Just, wow. Rocky was so on today and [Coach Krysiak] called an amazing game for her," Teague said. "It's a testament to her commitment to getting better every day. I also want to shout out our catchers, who did a great job just working for our pitchers back there all weekend."
Reyes' performance capped off a fantastic series for Columbia's pitching staff, which combined to allow just six earned runs and post a 2.10 ERA across the three games. First year
Jordan Hill was a big part of it, allowing just one hit in Friday's, 3-1, loss and going six innings in relief to help Columbia earn a come-from-behind victory in Saturday's opener.
"I think
Jordan Hill was fantastic this weekend," Teague went on to say. "She had a great weekend and another great outing in today's first game. The offense was finally able to string some hits together for her. Nothing is easy right now and I told our team that everyone is playing their best ball against us. I used this time to talk to our team about how our program needs to get better and get to that championship caliber. At the end of the day, I'm happy with what we accomplished this weekend. This was a good way to end it."
Hill entered in the second inning of Saturday's opener after Brown (12-21, 4-11 Ivy) had already plated two runs and had two more in scoring position with nobody out. The rookie struck out the first batter she faced and worked out of the jam without allowing another runner to score.
The Lions (11-21, 7-8 Ivy) immediately responded. A two-out single by
Abby Stuart brought
Bubba Gleaves to the plate, who pushed a ball through the right side. Pagane rounded third and slid in behind the tag at the plate to cut Brown's lead in half.
The next inning, Columbia took the lead.
Maddy Rifenberick and
Raquel Reyes got on base to lead off the inning and bring
Maddie Souza to bat. Souza dropped down a bunt to try and move the runners over, but the throw to first by Brown's starting pitcher, Erin Elgas, was wide, bouncing into right field and allowing pinch-runner
Caroline Palys to score and tie the game. Two batters later,
Jaden Hill brought home the go-ahead run on a ground out to short.
Jordan Hill maintained the lead by retiring 12 Bears in a row. She picked up her third strikeout of the game in the fourth and later worked around a leadoff single with a highlight-worthy double play to end the sixth.
Columbia put up three insurance runs in the seventh that came in handy. Three straight singles by
Maria Pagane,
Abby Stuart and
Bubba Gleaves loaded the bases with one out.
Cami Neal was hit by a pitch to plate the first run. Back-to-back RBI singles to left by Reyes and Souza made it a 6-2 game.
Brown rallied and scored two runs in the seventh and had the tying run on first, but Hill got Grace Ladd to fly out to center, ending game one of the doubleheader.
The Lions struck for a run early in game two and rode the arm of Reyes the rest of the way. Three straight Lions reached base with two out in the first and
Maddy Rifenberick delivered an RBI single to left for what proved to be the game's only tally.
Reyes was perfect through three innings before walking Nicole Kim to lead off the fourth. Kim would eventually advance to third with two outs, but Reyes struck out Ladd to retire the side. The only other Brown baserunner came in the fifth when Brianna Rodriguez led off by reaching on an error. Reyes then retired the final nine Bears in order and ended her no-hitter on a line out that
Abby Stuart snagged at first.
The Lions continue a stretch of seven straight games on the road when they visit Fairfield (10-19, 4-4 MAAC) on Wednesday. The game, which was postponed earlier this month, is set to begin at 4 p.m. ET.
For the latest on the Columbia softball program, follow @CULionsSoftball on
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Facebook.com/CULionsSoftball. You can view all the latest with the Lions on the web at
GoColumbiaLions.com/Softball.