NEW YORK, N.Y. - The University of Pennsylvania softball team entered the seventh inning, 5-0, but a late rally brought it back within one with the go-ahead run at the plate. However, the magic would end there as the Quakers fell just short, 5-4, in their final game of Ivy League play against Columbia.
Notes
* Penn's 13 wins in Ivy League play are its most since 2015.
* The Quakers matched the Lions in hits with seven.
* For the fourth time in five years, the Red and Blue eclipsed the 20-wins mark.
* Penn's four runs in the seventh are the most its scored in the seventh inning this season.
*
Emma Nedley went a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate. She was the only Quaker with multiple hits.
How it Happened
Coming off of a game two win to tie the series at a game apiece headed into Sunday, the Quakers looked to take that momentum into game three. Freshman
Julia Longo started in the circle for the Red and Blue and picked up where she left off after winning the second game for Penn. Longo allowed base runners in the first and second, but a strikeout in the first and two more in the second retired the sides and left the game scoreless.
Like in the series opener, it was the Lions who opened up the scoring. Columbia scored on an error in the infield from Penn and then a two-run shot from Sommer Grzybek made it a three-run third inning for the Lions. The Penn bats were unable to string a run of hits together until late in the game. A 6-3 double-play with
Emma Nedley on first in the second inning retired the side and then a 6-4 double play in the fifth inning with one out and runners on first and second ended a potential run then as well.
A sac-fly in the sixth inning brought in a fourth run for Columbia and an error in the infield had the Quakers trailing, 5-0, heading into the seventh. Looking to put together a late rally,
Sarah Cwiertnia and Nedley singled while
Lucy Yang walked to load the bases with no outs. A double from
Corrie Phillips brought two runs across and put the tying run at the plate.
Sarah Ketring grounded out, but it was enough to bring home Nedley and bring the Quakers within two runs at 5-3. Down to her final strike,
Kayla Ketring hit a two-out single, scoring Phillips and putting the tying run at first and the go-ahead run at the plate. However, the scoring run would stop there as a ground out to third base stopped the Quakers just short, 5-4.
What's Next
With Yale taking game three against Harvard and Cornell winning the series against Princeton, taking two of three games, the Quakers have not been eliminated for a spot in the Ivy League Championship Series. Penn will need Harvard to lose three games against Cornell next week and Princeton to lose one game against Dartmouth as the rest of the league wraps up conference play.
