PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Down four runs entering the ninth inning of the first game of Saturday's Ivy League doubleheader, Columbia Baseball (13-13, 6-2 IVY) stormed back against Brown (6-16, 2-6 IVY), scoring six runs in the inning to win the first game, 10-8, before following that win up with a dominating performance in the second game, sweeping Brown on the day with a 15-5 second game win at Attanasio Family Field at Murry Stadium.
The pair of wins gives Columbia six-straight wins and five straight Ivy League wins. This also marks the second straight Saturday where the Lions swept the opening doubleheader of the weekend Ivy League three-game series, having swept Princeton the weekend prior (Apr. 2).
On the day, the Lions got solid pitching with wins from
Saajan May (2-0) and
Derek Yoo (1-0) to go along with an offensive output with Columbia batting a combined .357 with two home runs, 23 RBIs and four stolen bases across both games.
"
Sean Higgins gave us a real strong effort in game one," said head coach
Brett Boretti. "And
Saajan May gave us a chance for a big comeback. Guys are playing hard and believing for a full nine innings.
"
Derek Yoo and
JD Ogden pitched great in game two and the team offense was consistent.
Weston Eberly had a big pick off late in that first game and a big triple to get us back into the game, while
Hayden Schott was on the barrel all day."
Columbia's comeback in the first game was capped off by
EJ Kreutzmann's two-out two RBI double to center field, while in the second game the Lions got a pair of big blasts from
Hayden Schott and
Anton Lazits to control the action from the start. Combined, the Lions got big numbers from Lazits (5-11 .455 1 2B 1 HR 1 SB 2 SBs),
Tyler MacGregor (4-10 .400 1 2B 1 SB 4 RBIs),
Weston Eberly (3-8 .375 1 3B 4 RBIs) and Schott (4-11 .364 2 2B 1 HR 4 RBIs).
The Lions controlled the action from the start in the second half of the doubleheader, getting four strong innings from the winning pitcher Yoo and a four-inning save from
JD Ogden. Columbia's combined ERA over both games was a respectable 5.50, collecting 17 strikeouts while holding the Brown bats to just .250 at the plate.
HOW IT HAPPENED (GAME ONE): Higgins opened the game by striking out the side as he came out of the gate dealing and it set the tone for the Lions over the two games as the Lions pitching came up big time and time over the 18 innings. In the second inning, Columbia got the scoring started getting three runs in the frame, which began with a lead-off single to right by Lazits.
He was moved over by a
Skye Selinsky single and after Kreutzmann was hit by a pitch the bases were loaded. A fielder's choice by
Austin Mowrey, that punched out Lazits at home, would be the first out of the inning, but keep the bases loaded for
Cole Hage. He would take a pitch off his elbow which brought home the first runs of the game, putting the Lions up 1-0.
With two outs, MacGregor delivered with a single up the middle, scoring Mowrey and Kreutzmann to put Columbia up 3-0. Brown answered in the bottom half of the inning with a grand slam, putting them in front 4-3 after two frames of play.
Higgins settled in and over the next two frames, he sat the Bears down in order. But in the fifth, the Bears added to their lead, scoring three runs on a three-run home run, giving them a 7-3 lead heading into the final four innings.
In the last batter that Higgins faced, the Bears pushed their lead to four runs, hitting a solo home run with one out in the seventh to push their lead to 8-4 with the final two innings left to play.
Columbia entered the ninth inning still trailing 8-4, it did not take long for the Lions to erase that deficit and it began with a lead-off single from Mowrey.
Mowrey advanced to second on a ground out by Hage and was advanced to third on a fielding error by the shortstop that put Blake on first. MacGregor then stepped up and with his single to left, scored Mowrey, as the Lions began to chip away at Brown's lead.
The big hit came from the bat of Eberly, as the scooting Columbia catcher recorded his fourth triple of the season, scoring MacGregor and Blake to bring Columbia within one run. Next up was Schott and after fouling off three straight pitches to stay alive, he smacked a game-tying RBI double to right to knot the score up at 8-8.
Lazits next singled up the middle, advancing Schott to third, he then stole second and with two outs up stepped Kreutzmann. On the first pitch he saw, he smacked a two RBI go-ahead double to center, scoring Lazits and Schott and putting the Lions in front for the first time since the second inning, 10-8.
May, working his third inning, worked around the first two Bears getting on, and with two Bears on and two outs he locked in. The final out of the game was a strikeout looking as May punched out Ryan Marra to finish off Columbia's four-run comeback to give the Lions a 10-8 game one victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED (GAME TWO): Right away, the Lions got back to work in the second game, scoring three runs in the first, powered by a Schott two-out, two-run blast to left center putting Columbia up 3-0 after just one inning.
Andy Leon got the start, and in his lone inning of work battled through Brown putting runners on, giving up only one run as Brown left the bases loaded as Columbia took a 3-1 lead into the second.
In the second, the Lions added to their lead, scoring two runs on a
Jacob Phelps RBI double to left and an
Andy Blake RBI single to center, putting Columbia up 5-1. The lone big hit from Brown came in the second on a solo home run, putting the score at 5-2, still in Columbia's favor.
Yoo replaced Leon in the second and after working through the home run, settled in for over the next four innings, giving up only two more runs during his outing, while striking out three. Neither Columbia nor Brown would score again until the fifth, when Brown added a run to make it 5-3.
Columbia answered in the sixth with a Hage RBI single that scored Lazits, and in the bottom of the sixth a pair of lead off singles ended Yoo's day and lead to Brown eventually scoring another run after Ogden took over. The game was still close at 6-4 heading into the seventh, over the next two innings Columbia changed that.
In the seventh, Schott smacked a two-out single up the middle brining Lazits to the plate. After watching a ball go by to fill the count, Lazits took the next pitch he saw into left center field to extend Columbia's lead to 8-4. A one-two-three inning from Ogden in the bottom half of the seventh set up another big inning for the Lions.
A pair of lead off Columbia walks in the eighth brought in a new Brown pitcher and up stepped Blake. On a 2-2 pitch, he smacked a triple to center to score both Hage and Phelps to put the Lions up 10-4. Columbia would add a handful of runs in the inning on a MacGregor RBI double,
Joshua Solomon's RBI ground out and a Mowrey single that scored Lazits on the play putting the score at 14-4 after eight innings.
In the ninth Columbia tacked on one more, off the bat of Schott who smacked an RBI double to right. And after giving up a pair of lead off hits, Ogden sat down the next three Bears to lock up the four-inning save and Columbia's 15-5 win in the second game to lock up the doubleheader sweep.
GAME NOTES: Columbia has won six straight games … The Lions now have five straight Ivy League wins … This was the second straight weekend the Lions have swept an Ivy League doubleheader … It was the first time since 2019 the Lions have swept back-to-back Ivy League doubleheaders … This was the third straight Saturday with a comeback win for the Lions … Eberly is now one of two catchers in the country with four triples, the most by a catcher in the country … Ogden's four-inning save was the second by a Lion this season, with May recording one at Houston (Mar. 18) … MacGregor now has a 10-game hitting streak, which is the longest hitting streak by a Lion since Julian Bury's 19 game hitting streak from 2019-20 … Hage has reached base in all 24 games he has played in … This was the fifth straight game Columbia has scored at least 10 runs.
UP NEXT: Columbia goes for the weekend sweep at Brown when they return to Attanasio Family Field at Murry Stadium for a Sunday, Apr. 10 matchup which gets going at 12 p.m. The Lions then return to New York City for a Tuesday, Apr. 12 meeting with Fordham with first pitch set for 3:30 p.m.
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).
