DELAND, Fla. — Columbia Baseball (1-2, 0-0 IVY) dropped its final game of the weekend series at Stetson (4-3, 0-0 ASUN), 6-1, in the rubber game of the three-game opening weekend series in a Sunday day game played on Melching Field at Conrad Park.
 
Billy Black (0-1) got the start and gave Columbia four solid innings, allowing only one earned one on four hits while striking out three.  But the Stetson pitching was able to shut down what had been the hot bats of Columbia, getting seven innings from their starter, the longest outing by a Hatter pitcher all weekend.
 
"Billy gave us a solid start today, which is great to see," said head coach Brett Boretti.  "But Stetson maximized a few miscues and when you face good teams, they will take advantage of that.  Stetson's starting pitcher also did a really nice job for them today, giving them seven innings."
 
The Lions did get hits from hitters one through three (Tyler MacGregor, Andy Blake, Cole Hage), but after scoring in the opening inning, the Lions could not muster the offense needed to pull away over the final innings. 
 
"It's a solid starting point for us," said Boretti.  "While we are disappointed we didn't win the series, we will take away the positives and build on some of the things we know we need to do to be better.  What helps is we start another series in five days."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: Columbia got its lone run of the game in the opening inning thanks to a one out double down the right field line from Blake.  He moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Hage RBI single to right.
 
Stetson answered back in the second and got another run in the fourth to make it 2-1 after four frames.  At this point, Andy Leon entered the game in relief of Black and he pitched a pair of scoreless innings over the fifth and sixth.  But in the seventh, the Hatters got to Leon and they would score two off Leon in the seventh and after Jagger Edwards came into the game to relive Leon, the Hatters added two more in the eighth. 
 
The Lions got a strong two-thirds of an inning from Derek Yoo to finish off the eighth inning, but over the final three innings Columbia failed to reach base which would cost them the opportunity to get back in the game.  And after the final out, Stetson had won the rubber game, 6-1, and had taken two out of three games on the weekend.
 
GAME NOTES: Hayden Schott and Anton Lazits extended their season opening hitting streaks to three games … Hage added to his hitting streak, extending it to two games.
 
UP NEXT: Columbia returns to the diamond next weekend with a four-game series at Davidson starting on Friday, Mar. 4 and running through Sunday, Mar. 6.  Saturday, Mar. 5 at Davidson will be Columbia's first doubleheader of the season.
 
FOLLOWING THE LIONS: Stay up to date on all things Columbia Baseball by following the Lions on Twitter (@CULionsBaseball), Instagram (@culionsbaseball) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).