Dartmouth Hosts Columbia in Home Opener Saturday

GAMES 21-23
Dartmouth Big Green (8-12, 2-1 Ivy) vs.
Columbia Lions (10-12, 4-2 Ivy)
Doubleheader Saturday, March 31 at 12:30 and 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 1 at 12:30 p.m.
Location: Hanover, NH – Dartmouth Softball Park

THIS WEEKEND'S SERIES
The Dartmouth softball team finally opens its home schedule this weekend hosting Columbia in a three-game Ivy League series starting Saturday afternoon.

SCOUTING THE LIONS
Columbia enters the weekend with a 10-12 overall record after taking down Fairfield on Wednesday night, 11-10 at home in extra innings, and holding on to first place in the Ivy League. The Lions have several contributors so far this season, but leading the pack is Taylor Troutt who holds a .394 batting average with 26 hits in 66 at bats, including six doubles, three home runs and 13 RBI. Senior Maura Lynch is leading the pitching staff with a 3.59 ERA, she has thrown 27.1 innings and allowed 44 hits, while Madison Canby has spent the most time on the mound, with 80.1 innings pitched she has allowed 101 hits for a 4.18 ERA. Columbia's Madison Gott earned Player of the Week honors two weeks ago as she hit two game-winning home runs leading her team to a series win over Penn.

LAST TIME AGAINST COLUMBIA
Last April the Big Green traveled to face the Lions in New York and fell in a doubleheader to open the Ivy season. In the second game of the day, Dartmouth held on through nine innings when the home team took the win on a walk-off home run. The Big Green took a 1-0 lead in the third inning, as Columbia tacked on single runs in the fourth and fifth, before the road team's bats came to life, scoring four runs in the top of the sixth. The Lions responded scoring three runs in the bottom of the inning, tying it up 5-5 and neither team was able to score a run in the next two innings. Columbia's Sommer Grzybek hit the walk-off homer as the leadoff hitter in the ninth, starting the conference slate 2-0.

LAST TIME OUT
Dartmouth is coming off a series win over Penn over the weekend, starting its Ancient Eight schedule on a high note. In Sunday's series finale, the Quakers took an early 1-0 lead in the second inning, but junior Taylor Ward hit a three-run homer in the top of the sixth to take the win.

LEAGUE LINES
This year the Ivy League is using a new format, with every team playing a three-game series against each other for a total of 21 games, as the two teams with the best records will then play in the Ivy League Championship Series. As each weekend of games finishes, the standings in the conference will be more clear as to who will play in the ILCS. Currently Columbia is in first with Dartmouth in second place, Cornell in third and Princeton in fourth. All four teams have the same conference winning percentage, but the Lions have more Ivy wins and the Big Green have more overall wins than Cornell and Princeton putting them in second place.

BATTLE OF THE PITCHERS
Columbia's Lynch and Dartmouth's Breanna Ethridge are first and third respectively in the conference pitching statistics. Ethridge has started 10 games this season and through 52.2 innings pitched she has allowed 47 hits for a 2.92 ERA. Lynch has only started three games so far for the Lions this season, but it is possible that the two will both throw in the same game.

FOLLOW ALONG
All three games this weekend will be broadcast on the Ivy League Network for subscribers. The ILN is available on Apple TV, Roku and the ILN App for Android and Apple devices. There will also be live stats provided by DartmouthSports.com.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Big Green will continue conference play next weekend, traveling to face Princeton in a doubleheader Saturday and single game on Sunday.

Schedules