NEW YORK – The Columbia baseball team and Dartmouth slugged their way to a doubleheader split Saturday afternoon. The Lions (7-12, 3-2) took down the Big Green (9-12, 3-2), 23-9, in the opener before falling, 23-1, in the nightcap.
The Lions and Big Green will meet up one final time Sunday, March 31, at 12 p.m. Fans can catch all the action on ESPN+.
GAME ONE
The run total and 24 hits were the most for the program since a 24-1 victory at Harvard on April 11, 2010. Eight of the Lions' nine positional players recorded multiple hits.
Josh Nicoloff was 4-for-5 with three runs scored. Julian Bury went 3-for-5 with six RBI, including a grand slam for his first career homer in the sixth inning.
Bengtson homered in his third straight game, taking a 2-1 pitch to the opposite field in left to give Columbia a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second.
Dartmouth answered with two in the third to go ahead 2-1. Steffen Torgersen and Bennett McCaskill each notched extra-base hits to start the inning and a groundout with the infield playing back gave the Big Green the lead.
A two-out rally in the bottom of the fourth gave the Lions the lead for good. Nicoloff notched a single up the middle and Ben Porter doubled off the wall in left-center to plate the equalizer. AJ DiFillipo and Bury followed with RBI knocks to put Columbia in front, 4-2.
The Lions sent nine batters to the plate during a seven-run, six-hit fifth to put the game away. Porter posted his second RBI double of the game and Jack Chernow drove in a pair with a single to highlight the frame.
After Dartmouth got one back in the top of the sixth, Columbia answered with a seven-spot in the bottom of the frame. Bury delivered the biggest blow when he jumped on the first pitch he saw over the wall in right for a grand slam. The Big Green continued to fight, scoring five in the seventh, but the Lions put up six more after the stretch to keep a comfortable margin.
Bengtson's three-run shot in the seventh inning was the 24th dinger of his career, putting him one shy of the career record held by Dario Pizzano and Gene Larkin.
Josh Simpson improved to 3-1, going 6.0 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits.
Cole O'Connor (2-3) was charged with 12 runs over five-plus innings. Nate Ostmo and Ubaldo Lopez each went 3-for-4.
GAME TWO
Liam McGill gave Columbia a 1-0 lead, bringing in Joe Engel in the bottom of the first, but it was all Dartmouth from there.
The Big Green put up crooked numbers in the second, fifth and eighth innings to come away with the doubleheader split.
Engel went 2-for-3 in the nightcap, extending his streak of reaching base to 25 games. Ethan Abrams fell to 1-1 after lasting 1.2 innings, giving up five runs.
Justin Murray (1-1) picked up the win for Dartmouth, lasting six innings, allowing one run on six hits with three strikeouts. Matt Feinstein drove in five, while Ostmo plated six. The Big Green posted 12 extra-base hits and had 22 for the game.
