BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Columbia softball team will open its 2024 campaign at the FAU Owl Classic this weekend in Boca Raton, Florida. The trip to Florida marks the start of the 42-game regular season slate that includes 12 home games and culminates with the Ivy League Tournament in May.
"We are excited to get our team on the field and attack this competitive schedule," Columbia head coach
Jennifer Teague said. "I think that we were able to get a mix of different levels of competition playing some power five schools as well as playing some teams who finished in the top half of their conferences. The goal is to always put a schedule together that will prepare us for the Ivy League and NCAA Regionals and I think we have done that."
The Lions will face Boston College at 10 a.m. Friday to kick off the season. Columbia will then meet Florida Gulf Coast at 12:30 p.m. to cap off a day one doubleheader.
Columbia will play the host, Florida Atlantic on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. before finishing the weekend with a Sunday doubleheader against Rhode Island at 9 a.m. and Florida Atlantic again at 11:30 a.m.
Columbia's games this weekend will be streamed through
FloSoftball except when Columbia is playing Florida Atlantic as those two games will be available through
FAUSports.TV. Live stats will be provided by Florida Atlantic at statbroadcast.com.
LOOKING BACK
Columbia made history in 2023 as one of four Ivy League teams to compete in the inaugural Ivy League Softball Tournament. The Lions closed out the regular season with an 11-10 Ivy League mark to secure the No. 4 seed in the tournament. Columbia knocked off top-seeded Princeton in the first round before dropping both games the next day to be eliminated.
The Lions finished 2023 with a 17-24 overall mark. Following the end of the regular season, six Lions earned a spot on the All-Ivy list, highlighted by
Bubba Gleaves' selection as First Team All-Ivy. The 2023 squad also saw eight members recognized as Easton/NFCA All America Scholar-Athletes.
PRESEASON POLL
Columbia was picked to finish fourth in the 2024 Ivy League preseason poll. The Lions were picked to finish behind Princeton, Harvard and Yale.
NEW FACES ON THE COACHING STAFF
Eric Oakley and
Madison Maida were brought in as assistant coaches this fall. Oakley comes to Columbia after spending the past nine years at Kent State. He started as an assistant for the Golden Flashes before taking over as head coach in 2016. Oakley guided the Golden Flashes to 201 victories which included a regular season Mid-American Conference title in 2016 and the 2017 Mid-American Conference Tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth.
Maida joins the Columbia staff as the pitching coach after an impressive playing career at St. John's. Maida was named the Big East Pitcher of the Year and selected as a first team all-conference pitcher in 2019. She was a six-time pitcher of the week honoree during her career and was recognized as part of the weekly honor roll three times during her career.
NEWCOMERS
The class of 2027 features five newcomers – Mandy Pelatowksi (midfielder),
Liv Madkins (outfielder),
Tatum Hubble (catcher/outfielder),
Lily McCord (pitcher) and
Payton Shimansky (catcher/outfielder). The class represents Minnesota, California, Ohio, Georgia and Indiana.
"I am very excited for this incoming class," Teague said. "It is full of talent that includes, but not limited to high level pitching, speed and a cast full of great hitters. The future of Columbia softball is bright and we cannot wait to welcome them to Morningside heights"
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).
