PRINCETON, N.J. – It was only fitting for head coach Brett Boretti to pick up his 400th career win in the style his Columbia teams are known for. Grinding it out. That's the best way to describe the Lions 2-1 victory over Princeton after the teams combined to strand 23 baserunners in a game filled with opportunities for both clubs.
Boretti is in his 14th season with Columbia and spent four years with Franklin & Marshall. His 288 wins with the Lions is the third all-time for the program and is nine away from passing Andy Coakley for second place on the Columbia coaching list.
Columbia (10-14, 6-3) did all of its damage in the fifth inning on back-to-back RBI singles from Chandler Bengtson and Liam McGill.
Starting pitcher Ben Wereski pitched 5.2 strong innings, allowing just one run on four hits with seven strikeouts. However, Princeton cut the deficit in half in the sixth without recording a hit after three walks and a hit batter forced in a run with the bases loaded. Jimmy Smiley came in with two outs in the frame and kept the Lions in front, getting a ground ball to shortstop Joe Engel, who touched the bag at second for the final out.
Smiley stranded two more baserunners in the seventh and wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the eighth. The Tigers notched two consecutive singles to start things out and moved into scoring position on a sac bunt. The next batter hit a grounder to third that froze the lead runner, but the throw across the diamond pulled Chandler Bengtson off the bag to keep everyone safe. Smiley proceeded to fan the next hitter and force a fly out to shallow right-center to escape the jam unscathed.
In the ninth, Smiley sent Princeton down in order to earn his first career save.
Wereski moved to 2-3 on the season. Engel was 3-for-4 on the day and scored a run. McGill and Josh Nicoloff also posted two hits. Ben Porter was 1-for-3, pushing his hitting streak to 14 games.
Andrew Gnazzo went the distance for the Tigers (x-x, x-x), allowing just the two runs on 11 hits with eight strikeouts. Max West was 3-for-4 on the day.
The Lions remain on the road Tuesday, April 9, when they face Fordham in the Bronx. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
