HANOVER, N.H. — Columbia Baseball (26-14, 16-3 IVY) dropped the first game of today's doubleheader at Dartmouth (23-18, 13-6 IVY), 11-8, snapping its 19-game winning streak, while the second game was suspended due to weather with the Lions leading 5-3 heading into the top of the fifth in a sunny then rainy afternoon at Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park.
 
The suspended second game will restart at 10 a.m. on Sunday, May 15, with Weston Eberly leading off.  The third game of the weekend will be played 30 minutes after the conclusion of the morning's opening game.
 
Columbia got a multi-hit day from Eberly in the first game, with the Lion catcher hitting his fifth triple of the season while knocking in a run and scoring two of his own, while Andy Blake went 2-5 with a double and a run scored.  Cole Hage also added a two-run home run in the game, his sixth of the season, and as a team the Lions hit five doubles.
 
On the mound, the Lions got a strong start from Joe Sheets, who went 4.1 giving up just two earned runs and only five hits and JD Ogden added 2.0 innings of one run ball for another solid performance out of the pen for the Lion left hander.  While in the field, the Lions turned three double plays, all of which were inning ending double plays that killed any Dartmouth rallies.
 
But the Big Green got to Columbia's pen late, winning the game by scoring seven runs over the final two innings to catch and pass Columbia to end its nation leading 19-game winning streak and putting the Ivy League Championship clinch on hold.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: Columbia came out of the gate on fire, scoring three runs in the first inning to jump on the Big Green with a 3-0 lead.  It began with a Blake single to center, and thanks to a double up the middle from Tyler MacGregor, Blake came around to score the opening run.
 
Eberly then stepped into the box and after fouling a pitch off, smacked his fifth triple of the season, tying him for the most by a catch in the country and scoring MacGregor in the process.  Eberly came across the plate on an Anton Lazits sacrifice fly, making it 3-0 after the opening frame.
 
Dartmouth got on the board in the bottom of the second, scoring two runs to cut into Columbia's lead at 3-2.  But in the fourth, the Lions got a big blast from Hage, who muscled a high inside fastball over the right centerfield wall to extend Columbia's lead to 5-2. 
 
In the fourth, Dartmouth added a run, making it 5-3.  Sheets' day came to an end in the fifth inning, but the Lion starter had settled in, using an inning ending double play in the first along with savvy pitching to work through his four-plus innings of work.
 
Ogden used another inning ending double play to get out of the fifth and the Lions held the lead at 5-3 heading into the sixth.  Dartmouth got another run in the sixth, but in the seventh they finally got a step up on Columbia.  Using a three-run home run the Big Green took the lead for good, going up 7-5 on that shot.
 
In the eighth Columbia got one back, getting a run on a Joshua Solomon RBI double to left center that scored Lazits, who had walked to lead off the frame, making the score 7-6 heading into the final pair of innings. Dartmouth then got the inning they needed, scoring four runs on a two-run home run and a pair of RBI singles, extending their lead to 11-6 after eight innings. 
 
Much like they have all year, the Lions did not go away quietly, scoring two runs on Eberly and Hayden Schott doubles, the two runs coming off the bat of Schott.  But the comeback was not in the cards as Dartmouth changed pitchers with one out, getting the final two outs to win the game, 11-8, ending Columbia's record-setting winning streak.
 
GAME NOTES:
- Columbia now has 57 home runs on the season, setting a program record
- The Lions now sit fifth all-time in program history with 26 wins so far this season …
- Columbia has scored 332 runs so far this season, placing them second all-time in program history for team runs scored in a single season …
- With 294 RBIs, Columbia sits third all-time in program history for RBIs in a single season …
- Eberly's fifth triple moves him into a tie for fifth all-time in program history ...
- Hage has reached base in all 38 games he has played in …
- Andy Blake now has a 19-game hitting streak …
- Columbia has hit 98 doubles this season, putting them fourth all-time in program history for doubles in a single season …
- Both Schott and MacGregor have 16 doubles this season which ties them for fifth all-time in program history …
 
UP NEXT: Columbia will return to the field at 10 a.m. on Sunday, May 15 to wrap up the second game of the series, before starting the third game of the weekend and final regular season game approximately 30 minutes after the finish of the suspended second game of the weekend.
 
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).