PRINCETON, N.J. – Columbia powered past top-seeded Princeton, 3-1 on Thursday afternoon at Strubing Field in the first round of the Ivy League Tournament to earn a spot in the winners' bracket.
The Lions will meet the winner of the Harvard and Yale game at 10 a.m. Friday for a chance to advance to the championship game on Saturday.
"Any time we can get a win right out of the gate in a tournament is a great thing," Columbia Softball Head Coach
Jennifer Teague said. "I couldn't be more proud of our team today. Their heart, resilience and togetherness is what the driving force was today. We are ready to get to Friday and get back on the field."
First-year
Savanna Messner scored the first run of the day for the Lions in the top of the second inning when she moved home from third as
Caroline Palys was thrown out at second base. Messner came in as the pinch runner after fellow first-year
Georgia Corey hit a leadoff single in the frame.
Columbia would add two more runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a 3-0 lead. After a ground out to start the inning, sophomore
Cami Neal launched a solo home run over the left field wall.
Following the homer, Corey struck out, but reached first on a wild pitch. First-year
Eleni Katsivalis then hit a double to left center that moved Corey to third. First-year
Sarah Mikami stepped up next and singled up the middle to score Corey and secure a 3-0 Columbia lead.
Princeton scored its lone run of the afternoon in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI single. The Tigers were starting to find some rhythm before senior
Bubba Gleaves caught a liner and was able to turn a critical double play at third base to end the inning.
Junior right-hander
Raquel Reyes finished off her seventh complete game outing of the season as she sat the Tigers down in order in the bottom of the seventh to seal the win.
Reyes fired five hitless innings, which proved to be critical in the win. She totaled four strikeouts to secure her ninth win of the season.
"All season we have been doing really well," Reyes said. "Toward the end of the season it has really come together for us in all aspects. It was fun to have it all happen now."
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