Baseball Set for Home-And-Home Series with UConn This Weekend; Friday's Game Time Moved to 3:30 p.m.
3/24/2016 3:03:00 PM | Baseball
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Schedule Note: Friday's start time is now 3:30 p.m.
THE STORYLINES
COLUMBIA'S STATUS
The Lions will open a three-game series with UConn this weekend, hosting the Huskies on Friday before heading to Storrs, Connecticut, for a twinbill on Saturday. Columbia has two-straight after topping No. 24 Long Beach State on Sunday and knocking off Army West Point, 13-3, Wednesday afternoon.
UCONN'S STATUS
The Huskies have lost four-straight and six of their last seven. UConn was swept at UC Santa Barbara in a three-game set and dropped a home contest to Central Connecticut State Wednesday, 8-4.
Willy Yahn is batting .353 with 20 runs scored and 14 RBI on the year. Bobby Melley has jacked four homers to go with 23 RBI and a .306 batting average. On the bases, Jack Sunberg has eight steals in nine tries.
On the hill, Anthony Kay, William Montgomery and Andrew Zapata have been the team's primary starters. Kay has fared the best of the trio, posting a 2-1 record with a 3.09 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 32.0 innings of work.
COLUMBIA VS. THE AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
The Lions are 9-23 against teams currently in the AAC, however 14 of those defeats have come from the hands of UCF (3-14). Last year, Columbia split a four-game series at Houston and topped East Carolina at the NCAA Coral Gables Regional.
INSIDE THE SERIES
This will be just the second meeting between the schools. The Huskies earned a 12-2 victory at Robertson Field at Satow Stadium in March 2012.
PALLER POWER
Senior Robb Paller was named Ivy League Player of the Week after hitting .423 with five runs and four RBI on the Lions' spring break trip in California. Paller is riding a 15-game hitting streak and is among the Ivy League leaders in several offensive categories.
EXTRA CRISPI
After missing all of last season recovering from an injury, senior Thomas Crispi has had a tremendous start to the 2016 campaign. The southpaw hurler is 1-0 and has not allowed a run in 11 innings of work thus far. Crispi earned a start in the Long Beach State series, throwing five shutout innings.
JOHNNY ON THE SPOT
Senior John Kinne is making the most of his opportunity in the starting lineup. The new Columbia third baseman is second in the Ivy League in RBI with 12. Kinne drove in the game-winning runs in both of Columbia's victories at Jacksonville during the Lions' opening weekend and named Ivy League Co-Player of the Week on March 8.
UNLEASH THE SAVAGE
Junior Will Savage has had a tremendous start to 2016. He has reached base in all 15 games this year and has an 18-game streak riding from the end of last season. He leads the conference in hits and on base percentage. Savage picked up five hits at Army West Point on March 23, becoming the first Columbia player to record five hits in a game since Dario Pizzano had six at Harvard on Apr. 11, 2010.
