NEW YORK – It was worth the wait. After pushing back Sunday's start time three times due to rain in New York City, Ben Wereski threw six shutout frames and Chandler Bengtson tied Columbia's career home run record to help the Lions topple Dartmouth, 11-1, in the series finale. Columbia (8-12, 4-2) scored in six of the first seven innings to earn another Ivy League series win.
Wereski (1-3) fanned 10 batters and allowed just one hit to pick up his first win of the season. The double-digit strikeouts were the most for a Columbia pitcher since David Speer punched out 10 against Princeton on April 12, 2014.
The Lions took a 2-0 lead after an RBI single from Matt Cerfolio in the first and an error allowed Bengtson to score from second in the bottom of the second.
In the third, Columbia put two on thanks to a Julian Bury single and Cerfolio walk. A sacrifice bunt set the table for Bengtson, who went deep for the fifth time in as many games and the 25th time in his career, to extend the lead to 5-0. The senior now sits tied for the program record with Dario Pizzano and Gene Larkin.
The Big Green (9-13, 3-3) had an opportunity to get back in it in the fourth when Matt Feinstein registered a leadoff single and two batters walked to load the bases with two outs. However, Wereski went up the ladder to get a swing and a miss for a strikeout to keep the shutout intact.
Liam McGill posted an RBI double in the fifth and Jack Chernow roped a two-run double followed by another RBI knock from Matt Cerfolio in the sixth, pushing the margin to nine. In the seventh, Columbia used a Josh Nicoloff base-hit and a sacrifice fly from AJ DiFillipo to bring the score to 11-0.
Dartmouth's lone run came off a bases loaded walk in the ninth.
Cerfolio was 3-for-3 with a pair of runs, the two RBI. Bury, Bengtson, Nicoloff and Chernow had two hits apiece. Joe Engel singled in the sixth to keep his streak of reaching base alive at 26 games.
Nathan Skinner (1-3) lasted 4.2 for the Big Green, giving up five earned runs on eight hits.
The Lions are back in action Wednesday, April 3, at St. John's for a 3:30 p.m. contest. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and the ESPN app.
