With Losing Streak Over, Softball Focuses on Cornell

After putting an end to their season-high losing streak on Tuesday, the Columbia softball team will try to continue its momentum against second-place Cornell this weekend in Ithaca.

The Lions had dropped 12 of their last 13 contests, including nine straight to Ivy League opponents. This losing streak began after they went 3-1 in their first weekend against Brown and Yale, the best start to conference play in the program’s history after four games.

The Light Blue won its 14th game of the year with a nonconference victory on Tuesday against Fairleigh Dickinson. After suffering shutouts in five of their 11 losses, the Lions jumped out to a 3-0 lead against Fairleigh Dickinson in the first inning thanks to sloppy defense by the Knights.

Even though it lost in the second game of their doubleheader, the team posted three runs, including two in the first inning off first baseman Danielle Pineda’s first home run of the year.

Scoring early and often in the game has and will continue to be a key to the team’s offensive success.

“We’ve had very mature at bats this season, but we’re not always in positions where we can strike since we were already down four runs,” said head coach Kayla Noonan.
The pitching staff must also make major improvements after allowing six runs in the loss to the Knights last Tuesday. After holding Princeton in check in the first inning on Sunday, Erica Clauss was lifted after allowing four runs in 1 1/3 innings in her fourth start of the season against Fairleigh Dickinson.

Freshmen pitcher Maggie Johnson returned to the form Columbia softball fans were accustomed to seeing earlier in the year, tossing seven shutout innings and striking out four in her ninth win of the season.

In contrast, the Big Red has won all but one of its Ivy League games this season, a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Harvard Crimson on April 3. Since that game, it has won 13 straight including 10 straight conference wins.

The Lions are out of playoff contention, but are still in a position to wreak havoc on their in-state rivals if they can win this weekend. Cornell currently sits a game behind a first-place Princeton team that is trying to win their 17th Ivy League softball title.
The Lions will play all four of their games against Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y. The first pitch for each game of the doubleheaders is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday afternoon.