PRINCETON, N.J. – Columbia dropped contests to Harvard and Princeton on Friday at Strubing Field as the Lions' run in the Ivy League softball tournament came to an end.
Columbia finishes the 2023 season with a 17-24 overall record. The Lions went 1-2 in the inaugural Ivy League tournament after defeating top-seeded Princeton on Thursday afternoon.
GAME 1 – VS. HARVARD
Harvard jumped out to a 2-0 lead to get the game started as the Crimson plated one run each in the first and second innings.
The Lions answered with a two-spot in the bottom of the third inning to tie the game. Sophomore
Maddie Souza lined a single to center field to lead off the frame. Souza advanced to second on a ground out before senior
Bubba Gleaves drew a walk later in the inning. With two on and two outs, sophomore
Cami Neal came through with her third triple of the season to score Souza and Gleaves.
Columbia and Harvard played a scoreless fourth inning before the Crimson reclaimed the lead, 3-2 in the top of the fifth inning on an RBI single. Harvard sealed the 7-2 win in the top of the seventh with a three-run homer.
Junior right-hander
Raquel Reyes (9-8) was charged with the loss as she tossed 6.2 innings, allowing seven runs on six hits. Sophomore right-hander
Jordan Hill came in with two outs in the seventh inning and recorded the last out.
Neal finished the day with a hit and two RBI as she was responsible for Columbia's two runs. Junior
Jaden Hill went 2-for-4 at the plate as she accounted for two of the team's five hits. Gleaves and Souza each registered one run and one hit.
GAME 2 – VS. PRINCETON
Columbia jumped out to an early 4-1 lead with a four-spot in the bottom of the second inning after Princeton plated a run in the top of the frame. First-year
Eleni Katsivalis got the inning started with a double to right field. She then advanced to third on a sac bunt from Reyes. First-year
Sarah Mikami drove a RBI single to center to score Katsivalis for the first run of the game.
Souza followed that up with a walk to put two Lions on with one out. Senior
Megan Ryono came to the plate next and dropped a double in left field to score Mikami and advance Souza to third. A little later in the inning, Gleaves doubled down the right field line to score Souza and Ryono to put the Lions up, 4-1.
Princeton would shut the Columbia offense down after the four-spot by not allowing any additional runs the rest of the game. The Tigers added two runs in the fourth, three runs in the sixth and two runs in the seventh to cap off an 8-4 win to earn a spot in the Ivy League Championship.
Reyes (9-9) tossed 5.0 innings total, allowing five runs on seven hits in the loss.
Jordan Hill came in for 2.0 innings of work. She gave up three runs on three hits.
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