PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The University of Pennsylvania softball team split with the Columbia Lions, dropping the first game, 6-3, while grabbing the second, 4-1.
 
Quaker Notemeal
* Jade Montgomery had six hits between the two games, going 6-8 with two RBI.
 
* Sienna Acosta had her best outing, going seven innings and allowing just one run.
 
* The Quakers sit a game and a half in the Ivy standings for a tournament spot.
 
How It Happened
 
Columbia 6, Penn 3
Coming off a wild 31-hit, 27-run slugfest against Villanova, Penn showed they still had some offense left in the tank. The Quakers went up early when Megan Huang drew a walk with the bases loaded to give Penn the early jump.
 
Caylene Nguyen answered the call when she roped a home run to tie things. Jade Montgomery then delivered in her own right when she doubled and brought a run home. Another would score in the inning to put Penn up, 3-1.
 
That would be the end of the scoring for Penn in this one, and Columbia would capitalize with five unanswered to give the Quakers the loss.
 
Penn 4, Columbia 1
After dropping game one, the Quakers rallied with one of their most complete performances of the year.
 
The Quakers didn't get on the board until the fourth inning, but that did not seem to matter to freshman pitcher Sienna Acosta. Acosta put together the best performance of her young career, going a full seven strong with just one earned run, four hits, and one walk allowed.
 
Getting the board in the fourth proved to be eventful, as the first run came in after Jaz Johnson bunted and scored due to two fielding errors by the Lions. Just two batters later, Delaney Smith and Jade Montgomery went back-to-back on the long ball to bust the game open and give Penn the four runs it would finish with.
 
The win is an important one for the Quakers, as it keeps them firmly in the playoff picture for the Ivy League tournament with four games remaining.
 
Up Next
Penn will have a day off before the series finale against Columbia, with first pitch scheduled for 12:35 p.m.