NEW YORK – Columbia (3-10, 0-0 Ivy) will host Brown (2-9, 0-0 Ivy) for a three-game series Saturday and Sunday to open the Ivy League slate. The Lions enter Ivy League play with wins over Bradley, North Carolina A&T State and Sacramento State.
The Lions and Bears will play a doubleheader Saturday and a single game Sunday to wrap up the series. First pitch of game one Saturday is set for 12:30 p.m. The second game will begin at 3 p.m. First pitch for Sunday's game is slated for 12:30 p.m.
GAME COVERAGE
All three games this weekend will air live on ESPN+.
Live stats will be provided through GoColumbiaLions.com.
Game 1 –
ESPN+
Game 2 –
ESPN+
Game 3 –
ESPN+
LAST TIME OUT
The Lions return to New York for their first home games of the season after spending spring break in California. Rain was a factor, but Columbia was able to play four games during the trip. The Lions played a Sunday doubleheader against South Dakota and Sacramento State. Columbia then wrapped up the trip with a Monday doubleheader at California Riverside.
Columbia finished the trip 1-3 with a 5-1 win over Sacramento State. Sophomore right-hander
Jordan Hill (2-4) tossed a complete game and six Lions recorded hits to earn the win. First-year
Savanna Messner went two-for-three at the plate and had two RBI in the game.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
For their performance last Sunday, Hill and Messer were honored by the Ivy League. Hill was recognized as the Ivy League Pitcher of the Week and Messner was recognized as the Rookie of the Week.
Hill had her first complete game of the season Sunday in the win against Sacramento State. She allowed just one run on seven hits and struck out four. Hill also pitched some in the first game to total 10.2 total innings pitched Sunday. She recorded seven total strikeouts for the day and finished the day with a 0.66 ERA between both games.
Messner went two-for-four in the doubleheader Sunday, appearing in both games and earning one start. She was a valuable asset to the team as she had two RBI on Sunday.
"It has been a rough trip in California with all of the rain, but I was extremely proud of Jordan and Savanna and all of our team for being able to focus when we actually did get on the field," Columbia Head Coach
Jennifer Teague said. "Our team is continuing to get better in all areas and we are excited to start the Ivy League schedule this weekend at home."
Bubba Gleaves was named to this week's Ivy League Honor Roll. The senior from Post Falls, Idaho was three-for-six at the plate in Sunday's doubleheader. She hit a double and had three runs.
TEAM LEADERS
Gleaves leads to Lions with a .412 batting average as she has totaled 14 hits this season. She also has a team-high 10 RBI to her name. Fellow senior
Megan Ryono follows just behind with a .350 batting average and 14 hits. Ryono leads the team in stolen bases with six. Hill has totaled 13 hits, while sophomore
Cami Neal has 11 hits.
First-year
Georgia Corey hit the team's only home run of the season on March 4 against North Carolina Wilmington. The Lions lost the game, 6-3.
In the circle, Hill has a team best 5.02 ERA through a minimum of 20 innings pitched. Hill has struck out 24 in eight starts this season. Reyes has earned three starts and has a 9.74 ERA entering the weekend.
THE OPPONENT
Brown is 2-9 overall this season with wins over Merrimack and Georgia State. The Bears were also in California last weekend and had several games rained out. In the two games the Bears played, Brown lost to Colgate, 7-1 and lost to LMU, 9-0 in five innings.
Dara English leads the Bears with a .296 batting average and is tied with Meghan Gormley for the team lead with eight hits. Jasmine Hsiao hit her first-career home run against Colgate and is second on the team with seven hits. She also leads the team with three doubles this season.
The Brown pitching staff enters the weekend with a 5.46 ERA. Alexis Guevara leads the team with a 3.17 ERA and has thrown a team-high 28.2 innings. She has 30 total strikeouts for the season.
LAST SEASON'S MEETING
Columbia took two out of three games in Providence last season.
Raquel Reyes capped off the weekend with a no-hitter to lead the Lions to the 1-0 win. Reyes delivered just the fourth no-hitter in Columbia softball's 22-year history.
FOLLOWING THE LIONS
Stay up to date on all things Columbia Softball by following the Lions on Twitter (@CULionsSoftball), Instagram (@culionssoftball) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaSoftball).
