CU Softball Ends Season With Four Losses To Penn, Finishes at Bottom of Ivy League

In the final weekend of Ivy League play, Penn (26-20, 10-10 Ivy) swept the Columbia softball team (15-33, 3-17 Ivy) in four games.

On Saturday, starting pitcher Maggie Johnson was tagged for six runs, four earned in four innings pitched for her 11th loss of the season. After retiring the side in the first inning, Johnson gave up a one-out homer to third baseman Taylor Tieman to put the Quakers up 1-0 in the second inning.

Penn scored five more unanswered runs in the next two innings. First baseman Dani Pineda muffed a throw for an error, allowing center fielder Keiko Uraguchi to reach base and score when catcher Alisha Prystowsky hit a two-out homer to left field for a 3-0 lead to end the third inning. Three more runs were scored in the fourth inning with two outs when left fielder Bridget McDugall hit a two-run single and scored on second baseman Annie Kinsey double.

The Lions trailed 6-0 before they put their first run on the board in the bottom of the fifth. Pineda reached base on a fielding error by Penn shortstop Christina Khosravi and left fielder Ciji Rich singled to start the inning. Leanne Penna hit a three-run homer to cut the team’s deficit in half, but that was all the damage the Lions could do against Jessie Lupardus in the 6-3 loss. The Quaker’s southpaw improved to 18-8 on the year with four strikeouts in seven innings.

The next three games of the series held a close resemblance to the team’s eight previous losses to their conference opponents, as it was outscored 36-9 in three more losses.

Aimee Kemp lasted for two-thirds of an inning in her start, allowing three earned runs and two walks in the first inning. Penn picked up another run in the second inning when Kinsey led off with a solo home run to give her team a 4-0 lead.

Columbia responded with a rally of its own in the bottom of the second to tie the score. After Rich flied out to center, Johnson hit a double and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Penna and catcher Annie Marie Skylis drew a pair of walks before third baseman Karen Tulig’s RBI single. Center fielder Jackie Ecker’s double brought home Pena, Skylis, and Tulig for three RBI.

But Penn responded with two runs in the third inning to take the lead for good. The Lions scored another run in the bottom of the frame on Penna’s RBI double to score Rich. The Quakers offense came back with seven runs in the fourth inning to put the game out of reach and give the Quakers a 13-5 win.

Things did not improve for the Lions as the series shifted south to Philadelphia on Sunday. They suffered their 10th shutout of the year at the hands of Lupardus in her 19th win of the year. Deanna Minuto lost her sixth contest of the year, allowing nine runs in the first inning of the 0-12 loss.

Columbia allowed twelve hits in its final game of the year, a 4-11 loss. Clauss allowed four earned runs to finish the season 0-6.

The Lions finished the season winless against all three of their Ivy League South Division opponents—Princeton, Cornell, and Penn. Columbia was outscored by a margin of 126-28 in those eight games.

The Lions will not take the field for what would have been the final games of the season on Thursday, May 1. The Lions would have faced Monmouth, a team they defeated in the Rebel Games Spring tournament on March 15, but the doubleheader was cancelled.