ITHACA, N.Y. — Columbia Baseball (25-13, 15-2 IVY) again broke out the brooms for an Ivy League doubleheader, sweeping the Saturday twin bill at Cornell (9-22, 4-13 IVY), 7-3 and 5-2, winning its nation leading 18th consecutive game in the doubleheader played at Hoy Field, wrapping up the month of April without dropping a game.
The win also extends Columbia's Ivy League consecutive win stretch to 14 games and it's the fifth-straight weekend the Lions have swept the Saturday doubleheader. The Lions also hit three home runs over both games, setting a program record for team home runs in a season now having hit 55 home runs so far this season, breaking a 38-year-old record that stood since 1984.
Columbia got great pitching from starters
Joe Sheets (game one) and the game two starting winner
Andy Leon (3-0), along with great work out of the bullpen.
Saajan May (5-0) came out of the pen to get the win in the first game, and
Billy Black collected his first save since 2018 to lock up the game two win.
At the plate, Columbia got a big day from
Joshua Solomon, with the senior center fielder going 4-for-7, hitting a pair of home runs in the first game, and knocking in five RBIs and stealing a bag. Columbia also got power from
Weston Eberly, who hit a solo home run in the second game for Columbia's 55th team home run of the season,
Andy Blake, who smacked an RBI triple in the second game, and doubles from
Cole Hage,
Hayden Schott (RBI) and
Jacob Phelps.
"Our pitching and defense today was real strong," said head coach
Brett Boretti. "We played two hard fought games."
The Lions were also aggressive on the base paths, stealing five bases over the two games, running their way to another Ivy League doubleheader sweep.
Columbia now sits on the edge of securing a spot in the Ivy League Playoff Series and the Lions can clinch a spot tomorrow, with either a win or a Dartmouth loss. Dartmouth plays tomorrow at Harvard, with first pitch set for 12 p.m.
HOW IT HAPPENED (GAME ONE): Cornell got on the board first, scoring in the bottom of the second to take a short lived 1-0 lead, short lived because in the next inning the Lions tied the score up thanks to a first pitch solo home run to left by Solomon. Solomon's leadoff home run in the second tied the score up at 1-1, as Sheets began to settle in.
The Columbia starter struck out the side in the bottom of the third on his way to a career-high eight strikeouts in the game. A leadoff walk and stolen base from
Tyler MacGregor set Columbia up in the fourth, and with a double to left from Schott the Lions took the lead, 2-1.
It remained 2-1, as both Sheets and Cornell's starter Luke Yacinich were locked in a pitcher's duel. But in the sixth, Cornell got to Sheets, scoring two runs in four singles to force the Lions to dip into the bullpen and call on the eventual winner May.
But much like the previous time the Big Red took the lead, it was short lived, and again it was because of the hot bat of Solomon.
An Eberly single to lead off and a one-out base knock to center from
Anton Lazits put runners on the corners and with two outs Solomon stepped to the dish. Again stepping into the box with an aggressive mindset, Solomon took the first pitch he saw into left field for a go-ahead three-run home run to push Columbia back in front, 5-3.
The Lions added another run in the eighth and one more in the ninth, on a pair of sacrifice flies from Eberly and
EJ Kreutzmann, and thanks to the lights out pitching from May, the Lions finished off the Big Red. May went 3.2 innings on his way to the win, giving up no hits and no runs as Columbia took the opening game of the doubleheader.
HOW IT HAPPENED (GAME TWO): Unlike the first game, Columbia came out and got on the board first, this time in the second inning when Eberly hit Columbia's record setting 55th home run of the season, sending a solo shot into left to give the Lions a quick 1-0 lead. The Lions would add another run in the inning, with
Skye Selinsky reaching on a hit by pitch, eventually coming around to score on a Solomon two-out RBI single to left, making it 2-0 after an inning and a half.
In the top of the third, Columbia tacked onto its lead, scoring two in the frame and it began with a leadoff walk from Hage. Blake then smashed a triple to left to score Hage from first. Blake would be knocked in on a MacGregor sacrifice fly to put the Lions up 4-0 three innings into the game.
A walk and a hit by pitch from Selinsky and Solomon put the two Lions in position to pull off a double steal, putting two Lions in scoring position early in the fourth inning. Selinsky would score on a Hage sacrifice fly to right, adding to Columbia's lead, making it 5-0.
JD Ogden came in to relieve Leon, who throw a solid three innings of one hit ball to eventually get the win, and over the next three innings Ogden would hold Cornell scoreless. Columbia would also be kept off the score board, but the pitching and defense carried them into the final three innings up 5-0.
Cornell finally got to Ogden in the seventh, scoring two runs in the frame. But Black, who had come into relive Ogden with runners on, struck out a pair of Cornell batters including the final batter of the frame to end the Cornell threat and keep Columbia in the lead, 5-2.
Despite the Lions not scoring over the final two frames, Black made sure that Cornell stayed right where they were, giving up no runs and only one hit over the last two innings. Black ended the game striking out five out of the last seven batters he saw, ending the game by striking out the side and putting an exclamation point on Columbia's doubleheader sweep of Cornell.
GAME NOTES:
- Columbia has won 18 straight games …
- The 18-game winning streak adds to the program record …
- The Lions finish the month of April 18-0 ...
- The old record of 15 straight games had been set during the 2014 season …
- The Lions are alone in the nation with the longest current winning streak …
- The Lions have won 14 straight Ivy League games …
- Columbia has now swept five-straight Ivy League doubleheaders …
- Columbia now has 55 home runs on the season, setting a program record ...
- Columbia had not committed an error in five straight games, the first time doing that since 2015 …
- The Lions now sit tied for fifth all-time in program history with 25 wins so far this season …
- The Lions stole three bases, giving them 68 on the season and they now sit fifth in program history for stolen bases in a single season …
- Columbia now sits fourth all-time in program history with 277 runs batted in so far this season …
- Hage has reached base in all 35 games he has played in …
-
Andy Blake now has a 17-game hitting streak …
UP NEXT: Columbia goes for the sweep at Cornell with tomorrow's (May 1) single game getting started at 12 p.m. at Hoy Field, the final game in the long history of Hoy Field.
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).
