After sweeping a doubleheader against Marist on Thursday, the Columbia softball team was looking to keep the ball rolling in Ivy competition this weekend. However, Columbia dropped both games to Yale on Saturday, before splitting with Brown on Sunday.
During the first game against the Bulldogs (14-16, 3-5), the Lions (12-20, 2-6) held a 4-2 lead going into the bottom of the seventh, but Yale was able to score three runs in the final inning of the game to capture the 5-4 victory.
The Elis were the first to score in the game, going up 1-0 in the bottom of the second. After Meg Johnson grounded out, Mariclaire Rebman singled off of Lions’ pitcher Maggie Johnson. After two more singles by Virginia Waldrop and Ashley Sloan, Rebman was able to cross the plate and put the first run of the game on the board.
The Lions answered with a three-run inning in the top of the third. However, all three runs were unearned, as was the Lions’ fourth and final run in the top of the sixth.
In the second game of the series, the Light Blue was not able to score any runs, earned or unearned, leading to another victory for Yale, 2-0.
The Bulldogs got on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Sloan singled to center field, stole second, and advanced to third on a wild pitch. From there she was able to score when Katie Yanagisawa was caught stealing at second.
Yale would score again in the bottom of the third inning. However, this time it would be the result of a Columbia fielding error.
Despite giving up only one earned run and six hits, Columbia freshman pitcher Jessica Rakonza earned the loss.
The Light Blue fared slightly better against Brown (9-15, 3-5), winning the first game, 6-5, before falling in the second contest, 12-3.
In the first game of the series, Columbia trailed 5-4 entering the top of the seventh. However, singles by Dani Pineda and Kayla Lechler allowed Anne Marie Skylis and Keli Leong to score, giving the Light Blue a 6-5 lead.
Johnson earned the win for the Lions, while giving up four earned runs and eight hits.
In the second game, Columbia was not as successful. An eight-run sixth for the Bears allowed them to claim the 12-3 victory after just six innings.
Before Brown’s offensive explosion in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Lions had been able to keep the game close. They opened the game with two runs in the first inning on an RBI single by Jackie Ecker (one run was unearned).
The Bears went on to score four runs between the second and third innings, bringing the score to 4-2, Brown. The Light Blue answered with a run of its own in the top of the fourth when Leong scored on a triple by Pineda.
The Lions were unable to win despite having numerous opportunities to score. Throughout the course of the second game, Columbia left 10 runners on base, after leaving only six runners on base in the first game.
Next up for the Light Blue is a doubleheader at Princeton on Saturday.
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