NEW YORK – Columbia baseball started Ivy League play 1-0 thanks to another brilliant performance by senior Josh Simpson. The left-hander tossed a three-hitter to lift the Lions to a 3-0 victory over Cornell Saturday in the opener of a three-game series.

Simpson struck out seven on his way to becoming the first Columbia pitcher to toss a complete-game, nine-inning shutout since David Speer '14CC did so on April 25, 2014 against Penn.

The Lions (4-10) took the lead in the bottom of the second after an error allowed Josh Nicoloff to come in from second base. With runners on first and second, Ben Porter grounded one to short and the throw to first was wide to give Columbia a 1-0 edge.

Columbia tacked a run in the third and fourth to round out the scoring. In the third, Julian Bury hit a pop up to first, and with the winds gusting, the ball fell to the ground for a leadoff single. Two productive groundouts and a walk brought up Chandler Bengtson, who slapped a base-hit through the left side that beat an overshift to double the advantage.

A two-out rally started with back-to-back singles from Jack Chernow and Bury. Matt Cerfolio followed up with a double to the gap in right-center to make it 3-0.

That would be enough for Simpson, who retired 15 of the final 17 hitters he faced to improve to 2-1.

Colby Wyatt dropped to 1-2 on the year for Cornell (3-10). The righty went 5.0 innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits with two strikeouts. Josh Arndt had two of the three Big Red hits on the day.

The Lions will wrap up the series with Cornell on Sunday, March 23, with a doubleheader at Robertson Field at Satow Stadium. First pitch of game one is slated for 11 a.m. Fans can catch all the action on ESPN+.