After going 3-2 to open its season last weekend in Alabama, the Columbia softball team will travel to College Park, Md. to compete in the University of Maryland’s Terrapin Invitational.
The Lions began their first road trip of the year with three consecutive wins against Grambling State, Samford, and Alabama State before failing to score in their final 14 innings and dropping their final two games at the Magic City Classic.
The team’s freshmen will try to continue their stellar play this weekend, as they played an instrumental role in helping to secure the team’s first three wins. Outfielder Jackie Ecker leads the team with 19 at-bats, hitting for a solid .316 average. Karen Tulig slugged the team’s first home run of the season against Grambling State, and catcher Anne Marie Skyls had a key double to bring home the winning run against Samford. Right-handed pitcher Maggie Johnson began her collegiate career with a 2-0 record, holding her opponents to a .174 batting average, striking out 11, and giving up no earned runs over her first 13.2 innings. She has also had a strong showing at the plate, hitting .400 (6-for-15) with 2 RBIs.
Not to be outdone by the underclassmen, shortstop Keli Leong was named as the tournament’s most valuable offensive player last Tuesday as a result of her outstanding hitting performance. The junior posted a .500 (9-for-18) batting average with two doubles, a triple, and 3 crucial RBIs that helped the team rally from behind to beat Samford. The Light Blue needs her to continue producing with her producing at bat this season if it wants to succeed.
Columbia’s entire offense will need to produce like it did in the team’s first three games to put runs on the board early and keep the pressure off the pitching staff. The team’s offense cannot disappear in the way that it did over the last two games of the series, in which the Lions were scoreless.
If it can execute, the pitching staff will hold the key to the Lions’ success this weekend. If Johnson can continue her stellar performance, the onus will fall on Aimee Kemp, who led the staff with 16 wins last season, to step up. She must bounce back and return to the form that saw her post a 2.78 ERA last season, after giving up 11 earned runs in her first 18.2 innings pitched last weekend.
The Lions will face Mount St. Mary’s in a 9 a.m. game on Friday followed by Fordham University at 1 p.m. Saturday’s doubleheader will feature Stony Brook at 9 a.m. and the University of Maryland at 1 p.m. The trip will conclude with an 11 a.m. game against Seton Hall on Sunday.