Columbia
Dartmouth
Baseball Splits on Day One of Ivy League Championship Series After Win in Game Two
5/9/2015 6:42:00 PM | Baseball
NEW YORK – The Columbia baseball team staved off elimination for the third time in as many tries, winning game two of the Ivy League Championship Series, 7-2, Saturday. The Lions' (28-15) comeback bid fell short in the opener as they dropped a 7-6 decision to the Big Green (21-21).
The two teams will meet again in the deciding game of the best of three set at Robertson Field at Satow Stadium tomorrow, May 10, at 1 p.m. The game will be streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network.
Game One
Columbia 6, Dartmouth 7
BOX SCORE (.html) | BOX SCORE (.pdf)
The series opener was a wild affair that saw the Lions nearly erase a six-run deficit. Both teams committed a fair share of miscues in the field and base paths.
After both starting pitchers cruised through the first two innings before Matt Parisi got things started with a two-run homer in the top of the third.
George Thanopoulos struggled with command in the fourth, issuing three walks and a wild pitch to bring in the third run. With two away and two on, Matt Macdowell hit a hard liner to Nick Maguire at first. Maguire knocked the ball down, but Macdowell beat the toss and Thanopoulos could not hang on to the ball to allow two more runs to score and extend the margin to 5-0.
The Lions broke through with a two-out rally in the bottom of the fifth. Maguire was hit by a pitch and Will Savage chopped a single over the mound to set the table for Logan Boyher, who found room through the left side to get Columbia on the board. Duncan Robinson came up with a big strikeout with two on and two outs to get out of the jam.
The first two runners reached via single in top of the sixth and Michael Ketchmark notched a two-run double down the leftfield line to bring the lead back up to 7-1.
Paller sparked a three-run sixth, jacking the first pitch he saw in the sixth inning over the rightfield wall. Dartmouth, who led the league in fielding percentage, committed two errors to help the Lions loaded the bases with one out.
Maguire came through by pulling a base-hit through the right side to bring Columbia within 7-4. The next batter, Savage, chopped a ball to third. Nick Lombardi touched the bag and fired across the diamond, but his throw was off the mark and knocked off his first baseman's glove. Maguire was caught in a rundown between second and third and was tagged out to end the frame before the Lions could draw any closer.
A Boyher leadoff double, a walk to Paller and error loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh. However, Robinson buckled down and induced a ground out on his 130th pitch of the day to get out of the jam unscathed.
In the eighth, two hard-hit balls by Randell Kanemaru and Maguire put runners on first and third with no outs in the eighth. Savage hit into a double play to make it a two-run ballgame. Despite a two-out walk to Boyher, Chris England got Serena to fly out to limit the damage.
Columbia continued to apply the pressure in the ninth. England issued a one-out walk to Falcone, who was lifted for a pinch runner. Gus Craig flied out to deep right-center for the second out, but David Vandercook kept the Lions with a double. A wild pitch brought in Adams to cut the deficit to 7-6 and sent the tying run just 90 feet away, but Patrick Peterson forced a ground out to help the Big Green escape with the game one victory.
Maguire led the offensive charge, going 3-for-3. Vandercook was 2-for-3.
Thanopoulos took the loss (4-5), lasting 3.2 innings and surrendering four earned runs on just two hits.
Game Two
Columbia 7, Dartmouth 2
BOX SCORE (.html) | BOX SCORE (.pdf)
The Lions wasted no time in the nightcap, going ahead 1-0 in the top of the first inning. Jordan Serena led things off with a single, stole second and Joey Falcone drove in the opening score with a base knock up the middle.
Dartmouth leap-frogged ahead in the second after back-to-back singles put runners on first and second with one out. A wild pitch advanced Kyle Holbrook and Nick Ruppert into scoring position and a passed ball evened things up. The Big Green executed on a perfect safety squeeze to go in front, 2-1.
Savage drew Columbia even in the fourth with a two-out, two-strike single to left, but was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double to abruptly end the frame. In the fifth, the Lions took the lead for good after Falcone found the gap in left-center to bring in Paller, who extended his on-base streak to 28 games with a base hit earlier in the stanza.
Columbia added insurance runs in the seventh after Boyher knocked in Savage, who reached on a leadoff triple. Nick Maguire made it 6-2 with a two-run blast, his seventh of the year, in the eighth and Falcone drove in his third run of the day with a triple of his own in the ninth to cap the scoring.
Kevin Roy gave the Lions another quality start to improve to 5-3. Roy went 6.1 innings, allowing just one earned run on seven hits and struck out four. Adam Cline worked out of a couple of jams in the late innings, but kept the Big Green off the board in the final 2.2 to pick up his first save of the season.
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