Softball Returns to Action This Weekend at Dartmouth

Saturday, April 23

Hanover, N.H.

12:30 PM

Columbia University

Dartmouth

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/Mike McLaughlin

Softball Returns to Action This Weekend at Dartmouth

4/22/2022 2:45:00 PM | Softball

Live Stats Watch (Game 1)Watch (Game 2)Watch (Game 3)

Lions and Big Green separated by just two games in Ivy standings

NEW YORK — Columbia softball (11-21, 7-8 Ivy) will make its final road trip of the season to take on Dartmouth (12-20, 6-3 Ivy) this weekend. The series begins Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET with a doubleheader at the Dartmouth Softball Park in Hanover, New Hampshire.

GAME COVERAGE:
All three games will be streamed live on ESPN+. Live stats will be provided by DartmouthSports.com. This weekend's series schedule is listed below with accompanying links to ESPN+ and live stats for each game.

SERIES SCHEDULE
Saturday
Game 1 | 12:30 p.m. ET | ESPN+ | Live Stats
Game 2 | 3:00 p.m. ET | ESPN+ | Live Stats

Sunday:
Game 3 | 12:30 p.m. ET | ESPN+ | Live Stats

NO-NO FOR ROCKY
Sophomore Raquel Reyes tossed her first collegiate no-hitter and the fourth no-hitter in Columbia softball history last Saturday against Brown. Reyes used 83 pitches to lead the Lions to a 1-0 victory in the rubber game of the series. The Placentia, California native was perfect through three innings before issuing a walk in the fourth. She allowed just two baserunners all game, retiring the last nine in order to post the first no-hitter since Maggie Johnson '11CC on April 24, 2011 against Princeton.

IVY HONORS
Columbia has earned three of the Ivy League's softball Player of the Week honors so far this season. Raquel Reyes was the last to do so, being named Co-Pitcher and Rookie of the Week this past Monday following her no-hitter against Brown. All of Columbia's Ivy accolades this season are listed below.

Player of the Week:
- Abby Stuart (March 28)

Pitcher of the Week:
- Raquel Reyes (April 18)

Rookie of the Week:
- Jordan Hill (March 21)
- Raquel Reyes (April 18)

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
April 18: Jordan Hill, Abby Stuart

IVY LEAGUE STANDINGS
Columbia climbed up to fourth place in the Ivy League standings by taking two out of three last weekend at Brown. The top two teams at the end of the regular season will face off in the Ivy League Playoff Series for the right to earn the league's automatic bid to NCAA Regionals.

Team	Ivy League	Pct.	GB	Overall	Pct.	Streak
Princeton	11-4	.733	--	19-13-1	.591	W3
Harvard	9-3	.750	0.5	15-15	.500	W3
Dartmouth	6-3	.667	2.0	12-20	.375	W7
Columbia	7-8	.467	4.0	11-21	.344	W2
Penn	5-7	.417	4.5	10-24	.294	W1
Yale	6-9	.400	5.0	8-20	.286	L3
Cornell	3-6	.333	5.0	11-15	.423	W3
Brown	4-11	.267	7.0	12-21	.364	L2

OFFENSIVE LEADERS
Columbia's offense is led by Abby Stuart, who is hitting .380 (38-100) so far this season with a 1.051 OPS. Stuart is third in the league in batting average and OPS, tied for first in hits (38), as well as second in home runs (7) and slugging (.620) and fourth in RBI (18). The rest of the offense is bolstered by junior Bubba Gleaves (.287), first-year Maddie Souza (.267), sophomore Jaden Hill (.265) and graduate Maria Pagane (.264). All five of them have played and started all 32 games this season. Gleaves leads the Ivy League with 20 walks.

IN THE CIRCLE
Columbia's pitching staff is headed by a pair of underclassmen in Jordan Hill and Raquel Reyes. Hill owns a team-leading six wins and 3.11 ERA, tossing six complete games with two shutouts and 59 strikeouts in an even 90 innings pitched. Reyes lowered her ERA to 3.73 following her no-hitter on Saturday. She's 3-4 on the year with 30 strikeouts in 62 innings of work.

THE OPPONENT
Dartmouth (12-20, 6-3 Ivy) enters the weekend on a seven-game winning streak, but has not played since sweeping a three-game series against Brown on April 9-10. The Big Green's series against Penn, scheduled for last weekend, was postponed and rescheduled for later in the year due to COVID-19 concerns within the Penn program. They also had a doubleheader against Merrimack canceled, which was scheduled for this past Wednesday.

Dartmouth's offense is led by Billie McFadyen, who is hitting .327 with a team-leading 32 hits and 17 RBI. Maddie Katona is also hitting north of .300 and leads the way in scoring with 14 runs. In the circle, Brooke Plonka expects to see the majority of the work this weekend. She boasts a team-best 2.99 ERA and is 8-9 on the year. Plonka has struck out nearly a batter an inning, tallying 91 so far in 96 innings pitched.

THE SERIES
The Lions earned a three-game sweep the last time the two sides met in 2019, which improved Columbia 19-27 in the all-time series. Columbia won two close contests, 5-4 and 6-4, sandwiched around a 9-1, six-inning affair in the middle game. Columbia's last visit to Dartmouth came in 2018, dropping two of three. Each of those three games were decided by a single run.

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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.