Baseball Kicks Off Gehrig Division Play with Four-Game Set at Cornell
4/15/2016 8:40:00 AM | Baseball
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COLUMBIA'S STATUS
The Lions will look to bounce back after dropping three of four to Harvard and Dartmouth last weekend. Columbia's only win was an 11-inning 4-3 triumph over Harvard in game two of a twinbill.
CORNELL'S STATUS
The Big Red dropped all four games last weekend at Brown and Yale. Cornell snapped its slide with a 3-2 win over Binghamton Wednessday.
Junior Tommy Wagner leads the team with a .358 average. He has reached base safely in 20 of his 22 games this season and his 0.32 strikeouts per game is second-lowest in the league among qualifying batters. Junior Cole Rutherford leads the squad with four home runs, two triples and 15 RBI.
Michael Byrne leads the team in earned-run average (2.55 ERA), with his last five appearances all coming in relief. Paul Balestrieri is 1-4 with a 4.05 ERA, Tim Willittes has 35 strikeouts to lead the staff.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Cornell leads the all-time series 124-107. The Lions have won eight straight and 11 of the last 12 dating back to 2013.
NO JOSHIN'
First-year Josh Simpson has given Columbia quality starts in three straight appearances, posting a 1-1 record with a 2.29 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 19.2 innings.
RANDELL'S ISLAND
After missing 13 games due to injury, Randell Kanemaru came back with a flourish, going 9-for15 (.600), slugged 1.133 and posted seven RBI in four games against Yale and Brown. For his efforts, he was named Ivy League Player of the Week on April 5.
BIG BART
Junior Kyle Bartelman is also on a tear of late, hitting .304 with two homers, four triples and 10 RBI in 13 games sinces the Lions' came back to the Northeast.
DIRTY HARRY
Sophomore Harrisen Egly moved into a two-way tie for Columbia's career save record after recording the final three outs against St. John's on April 6. Egly now has seven in his one-plus season and is one tied with teammate Adam Cline for the most all-time.
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. After seeing his 36-game on base streak snapped, he has reached in 24 of the last 25 games since.
UNLEASH THE SAVAGE
Junior Will Savage has had a tremendous start to 2016. He has reached base in all but two games this year and leads the conference in hits and on-base percentage. while checking in second in batting average. Against Long Beach State on March 20, Savage became the first Lion to record five hits in a game since Dario Pizzano had six at Harvard on Apr. 11, 2010.
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 14 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 tied for fourth in the Ivy League in RBI with 16. 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.
SPEER DOMINATING CAROLINA LEAGUE
2014 Ivy League Pitcher of the Year David Speer '14CC has made three appearances for the Lynchburg Hillcats (A Affiliate of the Cleveland Indians), allowing no earned runs on two hits to go with nine K's in 6.1 innings of relief.
