Baseball Hosts Manhattan In Home Opener

Wednesday, March 23

3:30 P.M.

Columbia University

Manhattan

Photo by: CJ Halloran

3/22/2022 4:56:00 PM | Baseball

Game Notes (PDF)Live Stats Watch (ESPN+)

Columbia Baseball will play its first home game in just under three years on Wednesday, Mar. 23 at 3:30 p.m.

NEW YORK — For the first time in over 1,000 days and just under three years, Columbia Baseball (5-10, 0-0 IVY) will play a game at Robertson Field at Satow Stadium when they host Manhattan (8-9, 0-0 MAAC) in a Wednesday midweek game set to get going at 3:30 p.m.

HOW TO WATCH/FOLLOW
vs. Manhattan – Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+) | Social Media (@culionsbaseball)

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS:
Griffin Palfrey (RHP/COL) – TBA (MAN)

HOME SWEET HOME: Columbia will finally open up Robertson Field at Satow Stadium with its game against Manhattan. This will be the first home game for the Lions since Mar. 23, 2019. Making it 1,097 days since the Lions hosted Cornell in a 3-0 Ivy League win. Ironically, the last non-conference squad hosted by the Lions was Manhattan, when Columbia knocked off the Jaspers 7-2 on Mar. 27, 2019.

LAST TIME OUT: Columbia returns home for the first time since 2019, having taken a game off Houston during its three-game weekend in Texas. The Lions won the opening game of the series, 9-5, using two home runs from Weston Eberly and Hayden Schott to power themselves to victory. Columbia went 2-6 over their eight-game spring break trip across Texas and Louisiana.

SERIES MATCHUP: In a series that goes back to 1888, Columbia and Manhattan will meet for the 98th time overall. The Lions hold a 50-45-2 advantage over the Jaspers having won three out of the last four meetings, including the last time these two sides met. In that game, on Mar. 27, 2019, the Lions won 7-2.

WHAT THE JASPERS BRING: The Jaspers enter the midweek game with an 8-9 record, having won their last game over Merrimack (10-0) on Mar. 20. Over the last three games, the Jaspers are 2-3 and took a weekend series at St. John's with a pair of wins over the weekend of Mar. 11-14.

They have also faced a ranked squad this year, opening the season against No. 13 Notre Dame, falling 17-2. Manhattan has yet to play a home game and opens home on Mar. 25 against Canisius.

HISTORIC RIVALS: Columbia and Manhattan go back a ways, having played each other going back to 1888 when the first game was played. Columbia won that, 2-0, and from that year on the Lions and Jaspers played at least five times a decade until the '90s. Both teams saw each other sparingly during the '90s, meeting only three times. Since 2000, both teams have met 29 times making this the 30th meeting in 22 years.

POWERING PAST HOUSTON: In the opening game of Columbia's three games at Houston, the Lions powered past the Cougars for a 9-5 win. In the game the Lions got a pair of home runs from Weston Eberly and Hayden Schott (3-run) to go along with power hitting on triples from Eberly and Anton Lazits.

The Lions also got solid pitching from Sean Higgins and Saajan May. Higgins got the win going 5.0 IP 7 H 3 ER 3 K and May snagged a four-inning save going 4.0 IP 4 H 2 ER 5 K. Columbia's win was the third all-time against Houston.

MAY TIME: In his last two outings, May has been a force coming out of the bullpen. Recording a win and a save posting a two-game line of 9.1 IP 7 H 2 ER 8 K and he has become a solid one-two punch with Higgins with Columbia's last two wins coming from a Higgins start and May finish.

BURSTING OUT: Columbia exploded for 11 runs, 10 unanswered, in its 11-4 win over Baylor in the second half of a doubleheader. They were the most runs scored by a Lions team since scoring 15 at Army on May 1, 2019.

KNOCKING OFF THE BIG12: Columbia's 11-4 win over Baylor was not just Columbia's first win over Baylor in program history, it was the first win over a BIG12 program in the long history of Columbia Baseball.

SOLO SPEED: In the final game of the three-game series at Baylor, Joshua Solomon was on his giddy-up, collecting a career-high three stolen bases. Including snagging two in one inning when he stole second and third in the top of the 10th inning.

SPEEDY LIONS: Columbia was active on the base paths over the weekend in Waco, stealing eight bags, while only getting caught once. They swiped five bags in Sunday's series finale and three in the 11-4 Saturday night win.

FLASHING THE LEATHER: In the three games in Waco, Columbia's defense was a strong part of their game, committing just one error over the weekend. As a team, they are out fielding their opponents by a clip of .974 to .970.

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.

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.

MILESTONES AHEAD: Brett Boretti reached the 400-win plateau last season and his 299 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 one win 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.

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 17-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).