WACO, Texas — Columbia Baseball (3-4 0-0 IVY) begins its longest stretch away from home of the 2022 season with the first three games of an eight-game, four-town Southwest swing starting this weekend at Baylor (7-5 0-0 BIG12) with that series running at Baylor Ballpark from Saturday, Mar. 12-Sunday, Mar. 13 with first pitch in the opening doubleheader set for 3 p.m. EST.
HOW TO WATCH/FOLLOW
GM 1 (DH): at Baylor (3 p.m. EST) –
Live Stats |
Watch (ESPN+) |
Listen | Social Media (@culionsbaseball)
GM 2 (DH): at Baylor –
Live Stats |
Watch (ESPN+) |
Listen | Social Media (@culionsbaseball)
GM 3: at Baylor (4 p.m. EST) –
Live Stats |
Watch (ESPN+) |
Listen | Social Media (@culionsbaseball)
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS:
GM1:
Sean Higgins (RHP/COL) – Tyler Thomas (LHP/BAY)
GM2:
Joe Sheets (RHP/COL) – Jake Jackson (RHP/BAY)
GM3:
Billy Black (RHP/COL) – Will Rigney (RHP/BAY)
LAST TIME OUT: In head coach
Brett Boretti's homecoming weekend at Davidson, Columbia split the four-game series with the Wildcats. Columbia's two wins came in the form of a doubleheader sweep over Davidson.
SERIES MATCHUP: Columbia and Baylor will meet for the first time in either program's history. The Lions will be only the second Ivy League team that the Bears have ever faced. Cornell has taken on Baylor four times with Baylor holding a 4-0 record with the last meeting being in 2019.
WHAT THE BEARS BRING: The Bears come into the weekend at 7-5, and they carry a two-game winning streak thanks to a midweek (Mar. 9) win over Abilene Christian (6-4) and a ranked win over No. 7 LSU (9-6) on Sunday, Mar. 6. Baylor's win over ACU in the top of the eighth thanks to a three-run HR. This will be their first game in Waco since Feb. 27.
MILESTONES AHEAD: Brett Boretti reached the 400-win plateau last season and his 297 wins with the Lions are second all-time, with Boretti making the move up from third in Columbia's weekend at Davidson. Boretti now sits three wins away from 300 career wins with Columbia, becoming only the second coach to ever reach that mark.
Boretti's 168 Ivy League wins and .596 winning percentage in conference play are both program benchmarks.
BACK IN TEXAS: Columbia has been to Texas before, but it's the first time since 2018 that the Lions have visited the Lone Star State. All-time this will be the sixth time the Lions have swung through the state with the Lions heading on to face Incarnate Word (Mar. 16) and Houston (Mar. 18-20).
Baylor will be the ninth team from Texas the Lions have ever faced. Columbia has battled with Houston, Lamar, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas A&M CC, UT Arlington, UT San Antonio and Texas Tech.
BLAKE POWERS THE LINEUP: Starting all seven games as the DH and batting in the two spot,
Andy Blake has been the power charge in the Lions offense leading the Ivy League in home runs with three hit so far this year. He's also collected a league-high eight RBIs.
SCHOTT'S HOT: Since the start of the season,
Hayden Schott has been a solid piece in the middle of the lineup. Hitting a team-high .321 as the starting right fielder, knocking in four runs and hitting three doubles.
DEFENSIVE LIONS: Davidson averaged 5.8 runs per game, but over the four-game series against Columbia, the Wildcats could only average 4.8 runs per game.
HOMECOMING: Columbia Head Coach
Brett Boretti returned to his old stomping grounds when the Lions visited Davidson. A 1994 graduate from Davidson, Boretti was a two-time First Team All-Southern Conference honoree and was inducted into the Davidson Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2010.
SWEEPING THE DH: The Lions swept Davidson in a Saturday doubleheader on Mar. 5. It was the first doubleheader sweep for Columbia since 2019 when the swept Brown in an Ivy League match up.
LIONS HIT DINGERS: Over the weekend of Mar. 4-6 at Davidson, Columbia crushed five home runs en route to splitting the four-game series. The Lions got one in the first game of Saturday's DH, and followed that up with two dingers in the second game of the DH and two more in the final game of the weekend.
Columbia got a pair from
Andy Blake and
Joshua Solomon, along with
Skye Selinsky. It's the first time since 2019 (at Cornell) that Columbia has had back-to-back games with at least two home runs.
FIRST TRIP TO LAKE CHARLES: After the weekend in Waco, Columbia will quickly hop across the state line to Louisiana to face McNeese in an early midweek game on Mar. 15. The match up with the Cowboys will be the first time the Lions have visited Lake Charles, and the first time they have played McNeese.
It will also be the second time the Lions have ever played a school from Louisiana and the second time playing in Louisiana. The first and only coming in a three-game series against Tulane in 2017.
FINALLY BACK: The Lions last took to the field on Mar. 8, 2020 in the final game of a four game series they played at Nebraska. When they take the field at Stetson, it will be the first time they have played in 719 days.
"It was good to get everyone back in the fall," said head coach
Brett Boretti. "The team has had great leadership over the past two years and there is a lot of anticipation ahead of opening day to get back on the field.
"It's part one of the season, as we try and figure out what everyone's rolls are and what are best lineups are. We've got a lot of new guys, but this opening weekend will be a great test to see what we have versatility wise."
PRESEASON PICKS: Columbia was picked to finish second in the Ivy League preseason poll. The Lions, who tied with Yale for the most first-place votes at five, finished six points ahead of Penn, who were picked to finish third.
2022 Ivy League Baseball Preseason Poll (First Place Votes)
1. Yale – 107 (5)
2. Columbia – 102 (5)
3. Penn – 96 (4)
4. Harvard – 92 (2)
5. Dartmouth – 72
6. Princeton – 47
7. Brown – 35
8. Cornell –25
DID YOU KNOW: Every student-athlete that has played for head coach
Brett Boretti's in his 15-year tenure, and remained on Columbia's roster for at least three years, has either won a conference title or competed in an Ivy League Playoff Series.
LIONS IN THE PROS: Columbia currently has one player in the professional ranks as Josh Simpson '19CC, a left-handed pitcher who was drafted by the Miami Marlins in 2019, remains in their system having spent time pitching as high as Single-A ball.
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).
