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Baseball Huddle
Jenny Streeter / Columbia Athletics
14
UConn UCONN 20-7
19
Winner Columbia COL 13-11
UConn UCONN
20-7
14
Final
19
Columbia COL
13-11
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
UConn UCONN 2 10 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 14 12 0
Columbia COL 0 2 3 10 2 0 1 1 X 19 20 0

W: Vaughn, James (2-2) L: Kirby, Devin (3-1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Baseball Overcomes 12-Run Deficit To Defeat No. 19 UConn

Lions storm back for another ranked win this season

NEW YORK — Columbia baseball defeated No. 19 UConn, 19-14, in a back-and-forth game that saw 32 hits between the two teams.

The Lions now have three wins over ranked teams this season. Columbia (13-11, 4-2) took down No.18 Alabama twice last month in Tuscaloosa. 

"Fortunately, we had an opportunity to work our way back into the game," head coach Brett Boretti said. "I think it says our guys aren't giving up. It says a lot about our offensive side. We were making plays defensively too."

Griffin Palfrey, Cole Hage, and Skye Selinsky all had four hits on the day. Andy Blake homered twice and drove in a career-high five runs. Hage also hit two home runs and tied his career-high with six RBIs. Hage's home runs came in back-to-back innings. 

Blake has reached base in all 24 games this season while Palfrey extended his on-base streak to 20 games. 

"It was fun," Hage said. "The atmosphere with the football team up there, I love when they come to support. It's a huge shift in the energy and then of course our dugout was awesome when I got back in there and they greeted me well."

Behind the plate, catcher Weston Eberly picked off a runner and caught a runner stealing. The Lions also turned two double plays in the field.

UConn (20-7, 0-0) put two runs up in the first inning and then 10 runs in the second to take a 12-0 lead early. The Huskies batted around in the second and recorded five hits in the frame, including a grand slam and two-run home run. 

After being down 14-5 in the fourth, Columbia exploded for 10 runs to take the lead in the inning. The Lions had 13 batters come to the plate in an inning that featured seven hits and home runs from Blake and Hage. 

Columbia then added another two runs in the fifth to make it a 17-14 ballgame when Selinsky tripled in Hage and Jack Kail singled in Selinsky the next batter later. 

"The whole idea of trying to play at a consistent level is not worrying about who is in the other dugout," Boretti said. "I feel it was a really good comeback win. A win is a win. It was good to have one here."

The Lions tacked on a run of insurance in each the seventh and eighth inning when Seth Dardar and Blake went deep for solo home runs. Dardar is now riding a seven-game hitting streak.

"It was a good swing for sure," Blake said. "Especially here with the wind blowing out today. I got it as good as I could get it. It flew out of here and I was excited."

Lions relief pitchers Brandon Madrigal, Sam Miller, JD Ogden, and Justin Tucker combined to keep the Huskies off the board in the final five innings on Tuesday. James Vaughn earned his second win of the season.

Columbia went 7-2 on the nine-game home stand. The Lions hit the road to play Yale in a three-game series as Ivy League play continues. First pitch in game one of Saturday's doubleheader is set for 11:30 a.m. at Bush '48 Field.

For the latest on Columbia baseball, follow @CULionsBaseball on Twitter and Instagram, and the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.
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