PHILADELPHIA — Columbia Baseball (27-16) dropped the opening game of the Ivy League Playoff Series to Penn (33-13), 13-4, under the sun and in the heat at Meiklejohn Stadium on Saturday, May 21.
Columbia now needs to win the opening game tomorrow (May 22), to force a deciding game three which would be played shortly after the conclusion of the first game. First pitch in the second game of the ILPS is set for 12 p.m.
"We got beat by a better team today," said head coach
Brett Boretti. "We got out of some jams early, but good teams are going to make you pay and they capitalized. Tomorrow is a brand-new day."
Cole Hage had a solid day in the leadoff spot, going 2-for-5, scoring a pair of runs in the process. Columbia's top six hitters, including Hage, all had at least one hit and all four RBIs came from the top half of Columbia's lineup.
On the mound, the Lions got the start from
JD Ogden (2-3) who went two innings of three-hit ball before
Joe Sheets took over. The Lion first-year gave Columbia four innings of work in the heat, battling to keep Columbia in the game and give the Lions a shot at mounting a comeback.
After Penn opened the first four innings scoring 10 runs, the Lions finally got to Penn's starter, stringing together five hits and scoring three runs in the fifth. In the frame, Columbia got four straight hits, with
Weston Eberly,
Hayden Schott and
Anton Lazits all recording RBIs in the inning.
The Lions could not make up the ground over the final four frames, adding one more in the sixth on an
Andy Blake RBI double to right, but in the end the Quakers had built a big enough lead to take the opening game, 13-4, setting up a must-win game for the Lions to open up tomorrow.
GAME NOTES:
- Columbia has scored runs 353 so far this season, setting a program record …
- The Lions set a program record in doubles, smacking 105 over the course of the season ...
- With 313 RBIs, Columbia sits second all-time in program history for RBIs in a single season …
- The Lions are second all-time in program history with 773 total bases …
- With eight hits today, Columbia moves into fifth-place all-time in program history collecting 463 hits so far this season …
- Hage has reached base in all 41 games he has played in and sits just two away from tying the single-season program record …
- MacGregor's 17 doubles this season places him in a tie for third all-time in program history …
UP NEXT: Columbia goes right back to work tomorrow, May 22, with the second game of the ILPS scheduled for 12 p.m. at Meiklejohn Stadium. A win by the Lions in that game sets up a deciding game three which would start 30 minutes after the conclusion of the day's opening game.
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).
