Softball headed to Ithaca for four game series

The Columbia softball team (11-26, 2-10 Ivy) split a doubleheader against Rider (11-24-1) on Thursday.

The Broncos’ Amanda Centeno hit a one-out triple to right field and came around to score on Heather Muscara’s RBI double.Samantha Mayer hit a two- out RBI double to give the Broncs a 2-0 lead. Candice Harris hit a solo home run in the top of the third inning and Muscara scored a run in the top of the fourth inning to give a 4-0 lead to Rider.

The Lions rallied in the bottom of the seventh, taking advantage of four Rider errors to cut the deficit to 4-3 and put a potential game-tying runner at third base with two outs. But junior Anne Marie Skylis’ groundout to third ended the first game, and Rider sophomore Rachael Matreale hung on to win her sixth game of the year.

In the second game, the Light Blue jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a run from junior Karen Tulig, who returned to action after sitting out the last month with a fractured jaw. Rider tied the game in the top of the third inning, but Columbia responded with six unanswered runs for a 7-1 victory. Junior Stephanie Yagi hit 2-for-3, including an RBI single and a run scored in the fourth inning. Junior Maggie Johnson had three hits and knocked a double to right center in the bottom of the sixth inning to plate her team’s final two runs of the game. Jessica Rakonza pitched five innings, allowing one run with two strikeouts. Johnson came in relief and allowed one hit in the final two innings with two strikeouts of her own.

Columbia will travel to Ithaca, N.Y. to face the Ivy League’s top ranked team, Cornell (24-11, 10-2 Ivy).

The Big Red is closing in on its second consecutive Ivy League title, as it leads Penn by three games in the South Division and has a two game lead over Harvard in the North Division with eight games left to play.

Last season, Cornell took three out of four games against Columbia, led by two shutout performances from Elizabeth Dalrymple. She pitched 13 scoreless innings and recorded eight strikeouts between her two starts. This season, she leads the Big Red in wins (13), ERA (2.14), innings pitched (111), and strikeouts (143).

The Lions did manage to beat Ali Tomlinson in an 8-2 win on April 18, 2009. She has compiled a 3.90 ERA in 55 2/3 innings pitched this season with 25 strikeouts.
Both doubleheaders will take place at Cornell on Saturday, April 24th and Sunday, April 25th starting at 12:30 p.m.