Baseball Readies for 10-Game Spring Break Trip
3/12/2015 1:36:00 PM | Baseball
COMPLETE COLUMBIA GAME NOTES (.pdf)
LIVE STATS UNC GREENSBORO/UNC WILMINGTON | LIVE VIDEO - UNC WILMINGTON
DUKE SERIES ON IVY LEAGUE DIGITAL NETWORK | LIVE STATS
USC UPSTATE LIVE STATS
NEW YORK - The Columbia baseball team is set to embark on a 10-game, nine-day spring break through the Carolina's from March 14-22. The Lions will face UNC Greensboro and UNC Wilmington in Wilmington from March 14-16, head to Durham for two games at Duke and finish with a four-game series at USC Upstate in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
COLUMBIA'S STATUS
The Lions dropped all three games to No. 9 UCF last weekend. Columbia had trouble bringing in runners all weekend long, stranding 33 baserunners in the series with the Knights.
UNC GREENSBORO'S STATUS
After a slow start to the season, the Spartans have won 4-of-6, including three victories over another Ivy League foe, Princeton last weekend. Most recently, UNC Greensboro fell to East Carolina, 8-1, on March 11.
UNC WILMINGTON'S STATUS
The Seahawks have won four of their last five after a 7-3 win over Toledo on March 10. UNC Wilmington started the season 6-0 before squaring off against Florida State from Feb. 27-Mar. 1.
DUKE'S STATUS
The Blue Devils have picked up two wins, one against Yale on March 10, after dropping 2-of-3 to North Carolina in their ACC opening weekend.
USC UPSTATE'S STATUS
The Spartans dropped its last two contests and 3-of-4. USC Upstate's last two games before the weekend were against Charleston Southern and the College of Charleston on March 10-11.
INSIDE THE SERIES'
The only team on its spring break trip that Columbia has previously faced is Duke. The Lions and Blue Devils played a four-game series in Durham in 2008 with Duke earning a sweep.
COLUMBIA AGAINST THE SO CON
Against teams currently in the Southern Conference, Columbia is 2-8. The Lions have only taken on The Citadel (2-5) and Western Carolina (0-3) previously.
COLUMBIA AGAINST THE CAA
Columbia is 14-24-1 all-time against teams currently in the Colonial Athletic Conference. The Lions have take on William & Mary 20 times (3-17) and have squared off against Hofstra on 19 occasions (11-7-1).
COLUMBIA AGAINST THE ACC
The Lions have a 1-13 record against teams currently in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The lone win came against Virginia in 1926. After the two games against Duke, the Blue Devils will be the most frequent ACC foe for the Lions at six games, passing Virginia who the Lions have faced five times.
COLUMBIA AGAINST THE ATLANTIC SUN
Columbia is 2-7 against teams currently in the Atlantic Sun Conference, going 2-0 against Florida Gulf Coast and 0-7 against Stetson.
MARCH TO 3,000
Columbia will likely play its 3,000th game in program history this month in it's 127th season of playing collegiate baseball. If the Lions' schedule holds without any weather postponements the milestone will occur in the series opener against UNC Wilmington on March 15.
BROOKLYN SLUGGER
Brooklyn native Joey Falcone's 1.077 slugging percentage through seven games not only leads the Ivy League, but is first in the NCAA. He also ranks second in home runs per game (0.43) and is sixth in doubles per game (0.73) among DI players.
UPSET ALERT
The Lions two victories over No. 6 Houston in the opening weekend of the season were the first two wins over a top-10 opponent in program history. Columbia does have a recent history of knocking off ranked foes, earning a victory at No. 16 Arizona during the 2013 campaign.
FALCONE RISING
Senior Joey Falcone had a strong start to the season, going 7-for-14 with two homers, four doubles and seven RBI to go with a 1.214 slugging percentage in four games at No. 6 Houston. For his efforts, he was tabbed as Ivy League Player of the Week and one of CollegeBaseball360.com's Primetime Performers.
RANDELL'S ISLAND
First-year Randell Kanemaru also made a strong first impression, reaching base safely in all four games at No. 6 Houston and coming up with timely hits during the series. His RBI single in the 13th inning of game two of the set plated the go-ahead run in a Lions win. For his efforts, Kanemaru was tabbed Ivy League Rookie of the Week on March 3.
10-OUT SAVE
Ryan Marks picked up a rare 10-out save in Columbia's 12-7 victory over No. 6 Houston on March 1. Marks tossed 3.1 scoreless innings to go with three strikeouts for his second career save.
