Softball to face Penn in final four games of season

After a rough series against Cornell on Tuesday, the Columbia Softball team defeated St. Peter’s in a doubleheader before heading into the final weekend of games.

The Lions scored the first run of the game off St. Peter’s starter Shelby Beaver in the third inning as junior Karen Tulig reached base on a fielding error at shortstop. Senior Dani Pineda singled before Maggie Johnson bounced into a double play, leaving Pineda at second with two outs. Next, sophomore Christie Taylor reached on a walk and advanced on a passed ball. Then, junior Stephanie Yagi also walked, setting up Jennifer Bergeron’s RBI single to give her team a 1-0 lead.

The Light Blue offense scored another five runs in the fourth inning on Taylor’s bases loaded walk followed by Yagi’s first homer of the season, a grand slam to give Columbia a 6-0 lead. St. Peter’s managed one run in the fifth inning, but Maureen O‘ Kane allowed one hit over the final two innings for a 6-1 complete game victory that included seven strikeouts.

In game two, Columbia’s offense answered St. Peter’s first inning run by scoring four times in the top of the second. Yagi and Kayla Lecher each had RBI hits in the inning. Columbia scored three more runs in the fourth inning with junior Anne Marie Skylis leading off the inning with a base hit and Pineda hitting her fifth home run of the year in the 11-5 victory.

Johnson pitched seven innings, allowing four earned runs with three strikeouts for the complete game win.

Columbia will face the University of Pennsylvania (17-21, 10-6 Ivy) in the final four games of the season. The Quakers feature a high powered offense with five players hitting over .300 in at least 30 games played. Senior Keiko Uraguchi has a team-high .350 batting average while freshman Brooke Coloma has team highs in home runs (6) and RBIs (28), statistics that have earned her Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors for twice this season.

But for as many runs (151) as the Quakers have scored this year, they have also had trouble keeping opponents off the scoreboard. Penn pitching has allowed 193 runs with a 4.27 ERA. Sophomore pitcher Chelsea Ott leads her team with a 3.02 ERA in 88 innings this season, but the other members of the pitching staff all have an ERA over 4.00.

The first two games of the series will take place at Warren Field in Philadelphia, Penn. at 2 and 4 p.m. on Friday, April 30. Columbia will host the final two games of the series on Saturday May 1 at 12:30 and 2:30 p.m.