Baseball Takes On Penn in Final Regular Season Weekend
4/28/2016 3:50:00 PM | Baseball
Twitter
The Lions came through with a huge series win over Princeton on April 23-24 to keep their Gehrig Division hopes alive. Columbia wrapped up non-conference play with a 14-12 comeback victory over Manhattan on Wednesday to set the stage for this weekend.
PENN'S STATUS
Penn took three of four against Cornell to also get back into the divisional race.
INSIDE THE SERIESColumbia is 118-129-3 all-time against Penn. These two teams have played some extremely competitve games in the last two years and have split their regular season series' to force a Gehrig Division playoff with the Lions coming up victorious both times.
WHAT'S THE SCENARIO?
Heading into the final regular season weekend, Columbia does not control its own destiny to capture its fourth consecutive Gehrig Division crown. Here are the scenarios for the Lions to keep their season alive.
Columbia can with the division outright with a sweep of Penn and a Cornell sweep of Princeton.
If Columbia sweeps Penn and Cornell wins 3-of-4 against Princeton will force a one-game playoff next weekend between the Lions and Tigers at Robertson Field at Satow Stadium. Columbia would be the host after winning the regular season series, 3-1.
If Columbia wins three games and Cornell sweeps Princeton, all four teams will be 10-10. The Ivy League will announce the tiebreaker format after the completion of Sunday's games.
HONORING THE SENIORS
Prior to Saturday's opener against the Quakers, Columbia will honor the 11 senior members of the squad. The group has combined to win a total of 105 games, the second most for a senior class in program history.
CARDIAC KIDS RETURN
With its two wins over Princeton on April 24, Columbia improved to 11-3 in "elimination games," dating back to the 2013 NCAA Fullerton Regional. They are also 7-0 in these type of contests at Robertson Field at Satow Stadium.
2013
• Lost first game of NCAA Regional. Beat New Mexico 6-5 in 13 innings. Lost to Arizona State.
2014
• Needed a win vs. Penn to force one-game playoff with the Quakers for Gehrig Division title and advance to ILCS. Won 5-2 in regular season finale and 4-0 on the road in playoff game. Later lost to Bethune Cookman after dropping first game at NCAA Regionals.
2015
• Same scenario with Penn as 2014. Won at Penn, 8-6, in 10 innings to force playoff on final day of the regular season. Won playoff game, 4-2, at home. Lost opening game in best-of-three ILCS to Dartmouth and came back, winning the next two games, 7-2 and 10-7. Dropped second game of NCAA Regonals, and defeated FIU, 4-3, and Miami, 3-0, to force decisive game vs. Hurricanes. Fell in Regional final to Miami.
2016
• Trailed Gehrig Division leading Princeton by five games with six to play on April 24 and won topped the Tigers, 5-4 and 8-7.
SUGAR SHANE
Junior Shane Adams came into the season with no career home runs, but has three this season, including two in the last week. Adams belted a pinch-hit grand slam in the ffith inning against Manhattan on April 27 to help the Lions earn a come-from-behind win.
IN A PINCH
Against the Jaspers, Columbia used a total of three pinch-hitters and each drove in a run fresh off the bench. Mark Patrick Flynn entered the game in the fifth and delivered an RBI single, while Chandler Bengtson hit a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning.
DIRTY HARRY
Sophomore Harrisen Egly became Columbia's all-time leader in saves after working the final three innings the third game of the Princeton series on April 24. Egly now has eight in his one-plus season and is one tied, passing teammate Adam Cline, who set the record at last year's NCAA Coral Gables Regional, and has seven saves.
