PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Columbia softball team finished off its first series sweep of the season with a 4-2 win over Penn on Sunday afternoon.
Columbia improves to 12-15 overall with a 7-2 mark in Ivy League play. The Lions have won three straight series to open conference play with series victories against Princeton, Cornell and Penn. Columbia extends its win streak to five games as the Lions have now won eight of their last nine games.
"We were firing on all cylinders this weekend," Columbia Head Softball Coach
Jennifer Teague said. "Our hitters were locked in and we had a good performance on the mound. Series wins are great, but series sweeps are a little sweeter. We are excited to take some time off and get back to work this week to prepare for Harvard."
The Lions got the scoring started early with two runs in the top of the second inning.
Jaden Hill dropped an RBI double in left field that allowed
Liv Madkins to score the first run of the game.
Savanna Messner followed that up with another double that scored Hill.
Penn cut the Columbia lead down to one with a solo shot in the bottom of the fourth, but Messner quickly responded with a solo home run of her own in the top of the fifth inning. The Quakers struck again for one run in the bottom of the fifth to again trim the Columbia lead down to one.
Cami Neal added some insurance with a solo home run over the left field wall in the top of the seventh.
Sarah Mikami worked through the bottom of the frame to strand two Penn runners to allow Columbia to finish off the 4-2 win.
Raquel Reyes (5-7) earned the start and fired 5.0 innings, allowing two runs on five hits. Reyes totaled three strikeouts in the outing. Mikami came in and earned the save with 2.0 innings of work. She struck out two and allowed two hits.
ON DECK
Columbia returns home next weekend to host Harvard in a three-game series. The Lions and Crimson will meet for a doubleheader Saturday, April 13 starting at 12:30 p.m. before finishing the weekend with a single game on Sunday, April 14 at 12:30 p.m.
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).
