Baseball Heads to No. 9 UCF for Weekend Series
3/5/2015 12:20:00 PM | Baseball
COLUMBIA GAME NOTES (.pdf) | UCF GAME NOTES (.pdf)
COLUMBIA (2-2) AT NO. 9 UCF (11-2)
MARCH 6-8
ORLANDO, FLA. • JAY BERGMAN FIELD
GAME VITALS
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LEADING OFF
COLUMBIA'S STATUS
The Lions earned their first two victories over a top-10 opponent when they split a four-game series with No. 6 Houston last weekend. Columbia won game two, 5-4, in 13 innings and the series finale, 12-7 on Sunday. This marks the second straight year the Lions have gotten off to a 2-2 start.
UCF'S STATUS
The Knights earned its first-ever top-10 national ranking when they moved up to No. 9 in the D1Baseball.com poll. UCF is coming off a 1-1 mid-week series split with No. 4 Florida.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Columbia and UCF have met 10 times with the Knights holding a 9-1 record in the series. The last time these teams squared off was in 2013 where the Lions picked up its lone victory - a 5-4 triumph - in game two of the three-game set.
COLUMBIA AGAINST THE AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
Against teams currently in the AAC, Columbia is 3-13. The Lions most common opponent is UCF. This is the second consecutive AAC foe Columbia has also faced. The Lions have also played Connecticut and East Carolina one time apiece.
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.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Columbia received votes in the March 2 NWBCA National Top-30 poll on March 2 after earning a series split against then No. 6 Houston.
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.
SERENA-TY NOW
Last weekend at Houston, senior Jordan Serena extended his hitting streak to 12 games and has reached base safely in 18 consecutive games, dating back to last season. Both mark career-bests for the tri-captain.
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 Duke on March 17 in Durham, N.C.
OH CAPTAINS, MY CAPTAINS
Seniors Jordan Serena and Mike Weisman, along with junior Robb Paller were selected as Columbia's tri-captains by the team this past fall.
PROUDLY SERVING
Senior Joey Falcone, a former Marine medic, served three tours of duty overseas before returning to the baseball field. Falcone spent one year at Staten Island before transfering to Columbia as a General Studies student prior to 2013. Falcone was a semifinalist for the Gregg Olson Award, which honors college baseball's breakout player of the year as a sophomore.
