Columbia
East Carolina
Five-Run Rally Gives Lions 6-3 Over No. 23 East Carolina Win In NCAA Coral Gables Regional
5/29/2015 5:32:00 PM | Baseball
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CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Columbia baseball team scored five times in the sixth inning to erase a two-run deficit and take a 6-3 decision against No. 23 East Carolina in the NCAA Regional Opening Round. The Lions will play the No. 5 national seed Miami at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 30 after the Hurricanes dispatched FIU, 6-2.
Columbia improves to 32-15 and notches its second NCAA Baseball Championship win in school history.The Lions are also the first Ivy League team to win its NCAA Regional opener since Princeton in 2004.
Senior captain Jordan Serena started things off with a bang in the top of the first, jumping on a 3-2 pitch for his second homer of the season to give Columbia the early 1-0 cushion.
The Lions continued to hit ECU (40-21) starter Evan Kruczynski in the top of the second, but left runs on the field. David Vandercook hit a leadoff double to right. Nick Maguire roped a single over the head of the ECU second baseman to advance Vandercook. Logan Boyher hit a hard ball that Luke Lowery smothered from his knees at first to keep Lions off the board.
ECU broke through with three runs in the fourth on just one hit. George Thanopoulos plunked Reid Love to start the frame and walked two more batters to load the bases with two outs. Eric Tyler put the Pirates ahead, 2-1, with a first-pitch single to left and an error led to the third ECU run coming in before Thanopoulos stopped the bleeding with a strikeout. At the end of the fourth, ECU led 3-1.
The Pirates pitching staff walked four batters and hit another in a big sixth-inning rally for the Lions. With the bases loaded and one out, Boyher hit a tailor made double play ball to short, but second baseman Charlie Yorgen's relay to first was well wide of the bag, bringing in two runs to give the Lions the lead once again. After two more walks, Joey Falcone fought off a pitch to left and the ball fell out of the glove of Lowery to extend the margin to three and give Columbia a 6-3 lead.
East Carolina had a chance to get back into things with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth. Thanopoulos gave up a leadoff single and walked another before being lifted for Adam Cline. After Cline gave up a walk, Maguire made a diving play to his right and flipped to first to strand the runners.
Cline pitched 3.1 innings, allowing one hit, one walk and striking out three to earn the save.
Thanopoulos earned the win (6-5), going 5.2 innings, giving up five hits, three runs, with only two earned, walking two and striking out six.
