Columbia
Stetson
Late Lead Slips Away in Baseball's Season Opener at Stetson
3/4/2011 11:26:00 PM | Baseball
DELAND, Fla. – Columbia scored four runs in the sixth inning to take a 6-3 lead over Stetson but the Hatters came back to tie the game with three in the eighth and ultimately came away with a 7-6 win in 10 innings in the season opener for the Lions at the Bright House Invitational.
The Lions struck first, pushing across a run in the second inning after Alex Ferrera's leadoff single and a walk to Dario Pizzano. Two batters later, Nick Crucet stroked a single back through the middle to plate Ferrera, giving Columbia a 1-0 edge.
Stetson got an unearned run off Columbia starter Pat Lowery in the bottom of the second to make it 1-1. After a scoreless third, Columbia took a 2-1 lead in the fourth on a run-scoring sacrifice fly by Mike Fischer.
Stetson tied the game at 2-2 in the fifth on a Robert Crews home run to start the inning, then went ahead 3-2 later in the frame. After the go-ahead run crossed the plate, Columbia reliever Harrison Slutsky induced a 6-4-3 double play to escape a bases-loaded jam and keep the game within a run.
Columbia responded in the next half-inning with a four-run outburst, keyed by a two-run single off the bat of Nick Cox that gave the Lions a 4-3 lead. A run-scoring single by Jason Banos made it 5-3 and Cox dashed all the way around from first to score after the hit and an error on the play to make it 6-3.
Slutsky allowed one hit through innings six and seven and the score remained 6-3 until the bottom of the eighth. Mitchell Brennan was hit by a pitch to start the inning but Slutsky fanned Sean Emory for the first out. After an error and infield hit loaded the bases, Stetson got to within 6-4 after a hit batsman forced home a run.
Tim Giel came on in relief of Slutsky and yielded a two-run single to Ben Carhart that tied the game at 6-6, but limited the damage after that point to keep the score tied.
Stetson's Jake Boyd kept Columbia hitless in the ninth and tenth innings, setting the stage for Stetson's bottom of the tenth. After Giel got the first out, Carhart tripled and eventually scored when Trey Blackman reached on an error, giving Stetson the 7-6 comeback win.
Giel was tagged with the loss while Boyd earned his first victory of the season as Stetson improved to 7-1 on the season.
The Lions will be back in action on Saturday, March 5 vs. Central Michigan at 1 p.m. on the second day of the Bright House Invitational.
NOTES:
Nick Cox finished with two hits in six at-bats and two runs batted in ... Nick Ferraresi also had two hits in four trips to the plate ... eight Columbia batters had at least one hit in the game ... the Lions turned two double plays in the game ... there were 24 men left on base between the two teams ... Columbia's seven Florida natives were playing in their home state for the first time in their collegiate careers.
