Lions Set For Ivy League Playoff Series At Penn

Saturday, May 21

Philadelphia, PA

1:00 P.M.

Columbia University

Penn

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Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/Mike McLaughlin

5/20/2022 7:11:00 PM | Baseball

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Columbia Baseball will face Penn in the best two-out-of-three ILPS starting on Saturday, May 21.

PHILADELPHIA — With eyes on a berth to the NCAA Regionals, the 15-time Ivy League Champion Columbia Baseball Lions (27-15) heads to Penn (32-13) for the Ivy League Playoff Series in a best two-out-of-three weekend which starts with a single game at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 21 and the first of possibly two games getting started at 12 p.m. on Sunday, May 22 at Meiklejohn Stadium.

The winner of the series will be crowned the Ivy League Playoff Series Champion and will earn the Ivy League's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Baseball Regionals.

Fans can get tickets to the weekend by clicking here.

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS:
GM1: JD Ogden: 2-2 3.08 ERA (LHP/COL) – Kevin Eaise: 7-1 3.88 ERA (RHP/PENN)
GM2: TBD (COL) – Joe Miller: 6-3 3.50 ERA (LHP/PENN)
GM3: TBD (COL) – Cole Zaffiro: 2-0 4.25 ERA (RHP/PENN)

COLUMBIA'S STATUS: With a share of the Ivy League title already secured, Columbia turns its attention to the ILPS where they look to punch their ticket to the NCAA Regionals. It's the third straight year Columbia has reached the ILPS and they finished the regular season taking a game at Dartmouth.

INSIDE THE SERIES: For the second time this season, Penn and Columbia meet after Penn took two at Columbia back at the end of March. This is the first time the two have squared off in the ILPS in a series that dates back to 1888.

WHAT THE QUAKERS BRING: Penn earned the right to host the ILPS with a weekend sweep at Princeton to wrap up the regular season. The sweep also gave Penn a share of the Ivy League title. Penn enters the ILPS on a four-game winning streak.

CHAMPIONS: With a game two win over Dartmouth, powered by five winning innings by Sean HIggins in the restarted game (weather halted the game the day before after four innings), Columbia locked up a share of the 2022 Ivy League title. It was the 15th title in program history and the sixth title under current head coach Brett Boretti.

BACK WHERE THEY BELONG: For the third straight season, Columbia will take part in the Ivy League Playoff Series. It's the ninth time the Lions have played in an Ivy League Championship weekend and all time they are 11-8.

Columbia last won the ILPS in 2018, sweeping Yale following a 15-inning marathon where the Lions won 2-1 to punch their tickets to the NCAA Regionals.

Getting two wins over Penn would send Columbia to the NCAA Regionals for the first time since 2018 and seventh time in program history. It would also be the sixth time under Boretti that the Lions have punched their ticket to the NCAA Regionals.

REWRITING THE BOOKS: The Lions have done a job this season rewriting the program record books, setting three program records in home runs, runs scored and doubles. Columbia has also cracked the top-five in five other categories, wins, slugging percentage, fielding percentage, runs batted in, total bases and stolen bases.

ROOKIE HAGE: Over the weekend at Dartmouth, Cole Hage's solid performance at the plate earned him Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors, becoming the third Lion in the season to earn the nod. Hage hit .467 from the leadoff spot, adding a two-run home run, three doubles, five RBIs and 13 total bases. Hage becomes the seventh Lion to earn Ivy League weekly honors this season.

NUMBERS ARE IVY: Columbia's individual numbers in the Ivy League have been solid putting the Lions in first place in the league.

· Cole Hage: .395 BA 4 HR 10 2B 22 RBI
· Tyler MacGregor: .373 BA 13 2B 1 3B 11 SB 20 RBI
· Weston Eberly: .370 BA 4 HR 7 2B 3 3B 24 RBI
· Hayden Schott: .364 BA 8 HR 11 2B 32 RBI
· Anton Lazits: .364 BA 2 HR 4 2B 17 RBI
· Andy Blake: .330 BA 5 HR 5 2B 4 3B 19 RBI
· Joshua Solomon: .314 BA 6 HR 2 2B 1 3B 20 RBI
· Austin Mowrey: .280 2 HR 2 2B 1 3B

SCHOTT AT THE IVY BOOKS: Having hit eight home runs in the league season, Hayden Schott has put himself in position to set the Ivy League record for home runs during the conference schedule. His eight home runs ties Columbia's Gene Larkin (1984) along with two others with the most home runs in a conference season.

Schott has also collected 67 total bases which ties him for first for most total bases in a single conference season.

STREAKING LIONS: Columbia won 19 straight games from Apr. 2-May 14, and the 15 consecutive Ivy League victories they had in the stretch is an Ivy League record. The stretch sets a program record, breaking the previous streak of 15 games set in 2014.

SCORING IVY RUNS ... LOTS OF IVY RUNS: Over Columbia's Ivy League season the Lions have been scoring, notching 214 runs while only giving up 127.

HITTING NATIONALLY: The Lions' hitting has put them in the top 50 nationally in several offensive categories, sitting 17th in slugging percentage, 21st in batting average, 24th in scoring, and 45th in home runs per game.

Columbia is also sitting seventh in the nation in doubles per game and 34th in triples per game.

NATIONALLY FAST: Nationally ranked 33rd in stolen bases per game and 59th in total stolen bases, Columbia sits second in stolen bases and stolen bases per game in the Ivy League.

THIS CATCHER CAN SCOOT: Weston Eberly has shown some power and speed during Columbia's 42 games, smacking five triples over that stretch. He ranks fourth nationally in total triples and his triples per game average puts him eighth in the nation. Eberly is also tied for the most triples by a catcher in the country.

WERESKI IS ROYAL: Former Lion pitcher, Ben Wereski '20CC was signed by the Kansas City Royals organization on Apr. 14. Wereski will pitch for the Lincoln Saltdogs of the American Association of Professional Baseball.

THE BIG 300: Brett Boretti reached the 400-win plateau last season and during Columbia's home opening win over Manhattan on Mar. 23, he got his 300th win with the Lions. He sits second all-time, with Boretti making the move up from third in Columbia's weekend at Davidson. Boretti became only the second coach in program history to ever reach the 300-win milestone.

Boretti's 185 Ivy League wins and .612 winning percentage in conference play are both program benchmarks.

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 two players 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 and Ben Wereski '20CC, who joined the Kansas City Royals organization during the week of April 12, 2022.

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).