Columbia
HOLY CROSS (Game 1)
Columbia Rallies to Claim Game Two, Ultimately Splitting Four-Game Series with Holy Cross
3/27/2011 6:09:00 PM | Baseball
NEW YORK -- Holy Cross used a three-run fifth to post a 3-2 victory in the opener of Sunday's doubleheader with Columbia at Robertson Field at Satow Stadium, but the Lions came back to win the nightcap, 7-3 as each team won twice during the Lions' home-opening weekend.
Game One
After starters Dan Bracey and Nate Koneski traded zeroes through the first two and a half innings, Columbia mounted a two-out rally in its half of the third inning.
Nick Cox got it started with a sharp single to center field and Jon Eisen bounced one off the plate and beat it out for an infield single. Dario Pizzano followed with a ground single through the hole into right field, scoring Cox and moving Eisen to third.
Alexander Aurrichio kept the train moving with a well-struck double the other way into left center field as Eisen scored and the Lions went ahead 2-0.
Bracey kept it at 2-0 through four but Holy Cross struck for three in the top of the fifth. Mike Ahmed drew a leadoff walk and Andrew Barry bunted him to second base. Brendan McCrea walked on a 3-2 pitch and Alex Maldonado dropped down the second sacrifice bunt of the inning to put runners on second and third.
On an 0-2 pitch, Bracey fooled Jack Laurendeau, who checked his swing and bounced one past the mound. The speedy Laurendeau beat it out for an infield hit, scoring a run and making it a 2-1 game. Nick Ciardello then doubled the other way into right field, scoring both runners, putting the Crusaders on top, 3-2.
The Lions loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth and had runners on first and second with two outs in the seventh but could not get even. John Colella shut the door in the seventh for his fourth save of the season.
Game Two
Nick Cox was 4-for-4 and Alex Godshall went 3-for-3 in the nightcap as Columbia came back from a 2-0 deficit with single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings and four in the eighth to ultimately gain a 7-3 victory to split the weekend series.
The game was scoreless through four innings as starters Stefan Olson and Vaughn Hayward matched each other early. Olson then got touched for two runs in the fifth as the Crusaders went ahead, 2-0.
Columbia responded with a run of its own in the fifth on a two-out RBI single by Enmanuel Cabreja, making it a 2-1 game. Alex Ferrera drove a sacrifice fly to score Alexander Aurrichio with the tying run in the sixth and Nick Ferraresi also provided a sacrifice fly in the seventh to score Nick Cox with the go-ahead run.
In the eighth, Godshall dropped down his second picture-perfect bunt base hit to start the frame and scored on Cabreja's ringing double down the left field line, making it 4-2.
The Lions later loaded the bases for Dario Pizzano, who delivered a two-run single to pad the margin to 6-2. Aurrichio came through with Columbia's third sacrifice fly of the game to score the fourth run of the inning, giving the Lions a 7-2 advantage.
Meanwhile, Harrison Slutsky had shut down Holy Cross after coming on to start the sixth inning. Slutsky worked 3 2/3 innings and allowed three hits to earn the victory, his second of the season. Tim Giel came on to nail down the win, getting Eric Oxford on a groundout when Oxford was the tying run at the plate in the ninth inning.
Columbia improves its record to 9-8 on the season with the victory and will be back in action on Wednesday, March 30 at Monmouth for a 3:30 p.m. game.
NOTES:
Each game Holy Cross won in the series was by one run ... during the four-game series, Nick Cox had 10 hits in 16 at-bats ... he scored eight runs and swiped five bases ... Cox has had multiple-hit games in nine of his 16 starts this season ... Dario Pizzano has hit safely in 15 of 16 games this season ... Pizzano drove in six runs in the final three games of the series ... Alexander Aurrichio was issued two intentional walks in the doubleheader ... Columbia played errorless baseball in each end of the twinbill ... Columbia outhit Holy Cross 11-4 in the opener ... the Lions outscored the Crusaders 23-11 during the series.
