Riding a season-high three-game winning streak, the Columbia softball team (8-17, 1-3 Ivy) will return to Ivy League action this weekend with road games against Dartmouth (4-18) and Harvard (11-15).
With a pair of wins against Marist last Tuesday, Columbia swept a doubleheader for the first time this season. The Lions dropped their first three Ivy League contests, but managed to defeat Brown 10-5 on April 3 for their first conference win of 2010.
Dartmouth beat Columbia in the two contests they played last season. Outfielder Nikki Yee scored three runs and hit an RBI in an 8-1 win. She leads the Big Green offense with a .306 batting average and .367 on-base percentage in 22 starts. Dartmouth infielder Kirsten Costello had two RBI to beat Columbia 3-1 in the second game of last year’s doubleheader. She is hitting .220 with two home runs and four RBI this season.
Pitching has been a weakness for the Big Green so far this season, as they have compiled a 6.02 ERA in 142 innings. Baker leads her team with a 5.58 ERA, 29 strikeouts, and two wins in 59 1/3 innings.
The Light Blue had more success against Harvard, losing the first contest 0-1 behind Rachel Brown’s complete-game shutout. Brown, last season’s Ivy League Rookie of the Year, allowed just one hit while striking out 14 Lions hitters. She is off to a stellar sophomore campaign with seven wins and a 1.96 ERA in 82 1/3 innings.
Maggie Johnson returned the favor by throwing a complete-game shutout of her own in the next game, allowing just five hits while striking out two for the 2-0 win. Her stellar play from last weekend’s games garnered her Ivy League Player of the Week honors, as she hit 7-for-13 with a home run and seven RBI and picked up her fourth win of the season against Brown.
The Crimson offense is led by Melissa Schellberg, who has a team-high .292 batting average. Whitney Shaw is hitting .288 with three home runs and 14 RBI, while Jennifer Francis also has three homers to go with 12 RBI.
Columbia faces Dartmouth in a doubleheader starting at 12:30 p.m. in Hanover, N.H. on Friday, April 9, and Harvard at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 10 in Cambridge, Mass.
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