PHILADELPHIA - IVY LEAGUE PLAYOFF SERIES CHAMPIONS!!
Columbia Baseball (29-16) completed yet another comeback, sweeping today's doubleheader over Penn (33-15), winning game two 4-2 and the clinching game three, 9-1, to win the Ivy League Playoff Series and punch their ticket to the NCAA Regionals at Meiklejohn Stadium.
This will be Columbia's seventh appearance in the NCAA Regionals and the first since 2018. It's also the sixth time the Lions have punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament under head coach
Brett Boretti, dating back to 2008.
Columbia is now 18-6 in elimination games dating back to the 2013 Fullerton Regional.
"It all starts with pitching and today we got some great performances on the hill," said Boretti. "Senior
Sean Higgins set the tone for the team with his great start in game one and senior
Saajan May holding the lead and getting the ball to first-year
Griffin Palfrey to close it out.
"In game two first-year
Andy Leon gave us five innings of one hit ball and
Billy Black pitched us to the championship with a four inning save. Good pitching and solid defense gives you a chance to be successful. The
Joshua Solomon play to
Weston Eberly to cut down Courtney at home was a tremendous play in game one.
"The offense battled all day long. We did enough in game one and were able to string together some runs in game two to eventually open up that game.
"I cannot say enough about the leadership and resiliency of this team. They love to play and they play hard."
Needing to sweep the doubleheader to advance, Columbia got great starting pitching from
Sean Higgins (5-3) who went six strong be
Griffin Palfrey locked things up with the save. And in the second game the strong work from the mound continued, with the Lions getting five strong from winning pitcher
Andy Leon (4-0) and an outstanding four innings of one-run work from
Billy Black, who recorded his second save of the season.
At the dish,
Austin Mowrey did his job of turning over the lineup, batting a scorching .444 with four RBIs and two walks. While leadoff hitter
Cole Hage again was big, batting .308 over the weekend with three RBIs and four runs scored. Center fielder
Joshua Solomon also had a solid weekend at the plate, batting .300 with a double and a pair of walks.
Tyler MacGregor and
Hayden Schott both batted .286, with MacGregor smacking a double and collecting five total bases and with a pair of doubles himself
Andy Blake added to the Columbia offense over the three games.
The Lions were also solid in the field, turning three inning ending double plays in the second game of the weekend, first of the day, while only committing two errors over the three games, capped off by a perfect day in the field in the deciding game three.
HOW IT HAPPENED (GAME TWO): Wanting to set the tone early, Columbia did just that to open the day thanks to Higgins sitting down the first nine Penn hitters he faced in order. It allowed for Columbia to get on the board first, scoring three runs in the bottom of the fourth to take an earl 3-0 lead.
Columbia got the three runs all with two outs, getting a two-RBI single from
Skye Selinsky and adding another run when Selinsky came around to score on a fielding error by the Penn third basemen. Penn did get on the board in the top of the fifth, but the Lions added another run in the fifth when Blake, who had doubled with one out, scored on an Eberly single to left field.
After adding one more in the sixth, Penn got within two runs of the Lions. It's as close as the Quakers would get for the remainder of the game, but in the eighth Penn began to threaten the Columbia lead, that's when Solomon and Eberly made what to this point can be called the play of the season for Columbia.
After May gave up a leadoff walk and then a single, a wild pitch put Penn runners on second and third. A quick pitching change for the Lions brought in Palfrey and it was then that Solomon roared.
Penn's Miller lined one to shallow center field, which Solomon snagged, but Penn's Courtney decided to push the envelope and test the senior's arm. Big mistake.
A great throw right up the line was met by Eberly who, after making an outstanding pick, tagged Courtney out as both Eberly, Courtney and the ball all met at the same time with Columbia coming away the victor. The 8-2 double play ended Penn's threat and the Quakers would not get a runner past second for the rest of the game.
And after Palfrey finished off the final Penn batter, with a fly out to left field, Columbia had secured the 4-2 win to force a deciding third game.
HOW IT HAPPENED (GAME THREE): Shortly after forcing the deciding game three the Lions quickly got back in front of the Quakers, scoring two runs in the second, getting the two RBIs from Hage who smacked a two-out single up the middle that scored Solomon and
Anton Lazits to put the Lions up 2-0 after two frames.
What helped keep the Lions in front was the fact that starting pitcher Leon and soon to enter the game Black were both dealing. Leon gave up a hit in the first inning, the only hit he would give up over five, completely shutting down the Penn bats as the Lions began to build on their lead.
Columbia added a run in the fourth, with Selinsky, who came in as a pinch runner after
EJ Kreutzmann singled through the right side, scoring on a Hage sacrifice fly to left.
In the fifth, the Lions padded their lead as MacGregor led off the inning with a single and after Schott reached on his own single, both Lion runners advanced on a wild pitch putting them in scoring position. Lazits then hit a lazy fly ball to right, but the Penn right fielder let it fall out of his glove allowing Lazits to reach and MacGregor to come around to score making it 4-0 after five innings.
Penn got one back in the sixth, but Columbia quickly answered with two runs of their own in the seventh, scoring the runs on a Mowrey single up the gut that scored both Schott and Eberly putting Columbia up 6-1. In the top of the ninth, Columbia put some more insurance runs on the board with another Mowrey two-RBI single to make it 8-1 and after MacGregor walked with the bass loaded Columbia had built its lead to 9-1 heading into the final frame.
Building on the three strikeouts he already recorded, Black, who had entered the game for Leon in the sixth, added two more punch outs in the ninth to put Columbia one out away and on the cusp of another NCAA Regional berth.
With an 0-2 count, Black got the Penn batter to fly harmlessly out to center, where Solomon was waiting. And with the squeeze of his glove the final out was recorded. The Lion dugout flooded onto the field, a victory dog pile ensued and with the 9-1 victory the comeback was complete, and Columbia was crowned the Ivy League Playoff Series Champions.
GAME NOTES:
- The Lions now sit tied for second all-time in team wins, getting their 28th and 29th wins of the season …
- Columbia has scored runs 366 so far this season, setting a program record …
- The Lions set a program record in doubles, smacking 105 over the course of the season ...
- Columbia's 481 hits places them second all-time in program history …
- With 324 RBIs, Columbia has set a program record for RBIs in a single season …
- The Lions set another single-season program record with 793 total bases collected this season …
- Hage has reached base in all 43 games he has played in …
- MacGregor's 17 doubles this season places him in a tie for third all-time in program history …
UP NEXT: The Lions will now wait until the NCAA sets the tournament bracket. Columbia will find out where they will be headed for the NCAA Regionals at 12 p.m. on Monday, May 30. Fans can watch the selection show on ESPN2.
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).
