Softball Sweeps Peahens After Extra Inning Thriller

A regulation softball game is seven innings long, and after ten innings, the international tiebreaker rule kicks into effect, allowing teams to start each offensive series with a runner on second base.

So, with the Lions (17-11, 2-2 Ivy) locked in a 3-3 tie with the St. Peter's College Peahens at Baker Field on Wednesday afternoon, Columbia first-year Hilary Jacobs found herself on second base at the start of the bottom half of the 11th inning without even going to bat as junior outfielder Laura Drazdowski led off at the plate.

Drazdowski quickly reached first base and advanced an awaiting Jacobs to third after hitting a short fly to right, which was misplayed by the Peahen outfielder. Then, star junior pitcher Allison Buehler was intentionally walked by the Peahens to load the bases for the Lions. The rally appeared to be on, but the next two Light Blue batters struck out, which brought sophomore second baseman Stephanie Reeder to the plate in the high pressure situation for one final attempt at ending the game.

With the bases loaded and two outs, Reeder ended the game in the bottom of the 11th inning by singling to right and driving in Jacobs from third base for the winning run.

"I thought we had the advantage going into the international tiebreaker," Buehler said, "because we were the home team and I am comfortable pitching with runners in scoring position."

While the extra innings offensive sparks by the low scoring Lions were the highlight of the afternoon, Buehler's amazing iron person 11-inning pitching performance was equally if not more impressive. Going the distance, Buehler seemed to get stronger with each inning, making only a single mistake in the second inning when she gave up a two run homer to St. Peter's junior first baseman Candace Winder.

"Allison has the stamina to keep throwing," Head Coach Christine Vogt said. "She kept them off balance and forced a lot of ground balls which we could field."

If the Light Blue had lost the first game yesterday afternoon, they would have looked back at the fifth inning as the main culprit in their loss. For it was in the fifth that the Lions loaded the bases with no outs and appeared to be in a prime position to bring baserunners across homeplate, but they only managed a single run.

In the end, however, the Lions pulled out the game, thanks to Buehler's strong arm, Reeder's timely single, and an unlikely home run in the bottom of the seventh by senior shortstop Nikki Campbell that tied the game with the Peahens at 2-2 and forced the ballgame into extra-innings. The only other highly noteworthy play occurred in the top of the eighth, when Campbell tagged out a Peahen runner in a rundown between third and home.

It was the longest softball game in Columbia history.

The second game had a much simpler storyline. Senior hurler Katie Zunno shut down the Peahen offense and the Lions put together four runs on seven hits in the fourth, which would be good enough for the win as Zunno did not allow a single run in the 5-0 Columbia victory.

"Katie was on today. I just can't say enough about all three of our pitchers," Vogt said.

The fourth inning fireworks, which featured back-to-back doubles by Campbell and junior outfielder April Jarvis to start the inning, were as strong an offensive outpouring as the Light Blue, who have struggled on offense at times this season, have had in one at-bat this season.

"Hitting is contagious," Jarvis said. "As soon as you get two hits in a row, they just keep coming. We also have to give credit to our bats because we were more aggressive today."

Junior transfer Courtney Ryan, the Lions' catcher, smacked her first home run, a solo shot in the fifth, for Columbia's final run of the game.

The Lions now have a four game win streak heading into this weekend's road games against Yale and Brown, and both teams are 1-3 in the Ivy League.

"We use these midweek [non-conference] games to keep us sharp, prepare us for our Ivy games, and get wins to improve our position in the regional standings," Vogt said.