Friday, May 16
New Haven, Conn.
4:00 P.M.
Columbia University
vs
(3) Penn
Photo by: Brian Foley for Foley Photograph
Baseball Opens Ivy League Tournament Friday Against Penn
5/14/2025 4:00:00 PM | Baseball
The Lions' quest for an NCAA Tournament berth begins Friday
NEW YORK - Columbia baseball will open up the 2025 Ivy League Tournament Friday, May 16, against Penn in the No. 2-3 matchup at George H.W. Bush Field in New Haven, Connecticut. The winner will move on to the winners bracket and play at 4 p.m. on Saturday, while the loser will face elimination in the 12 p.m. game against No. 1 Yale or No. 4 Harvard. The winner of the tournament will receive the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
All games will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
COLUMBIA'S STATUS
The Lions earned a share of their 17th Ivy League title and second consecutive crown after posting a 16-5 mark in the Ancient Eight. Columbia earned the No. 2 seed in the tournament because Yale won the regular season series in April.
Since March 15, Columbia has posted a 23-8 record and has won 12 of its last 13 contests heading into the Ivy League Tournament.
The Lions are searching for their first win in this format of the Ivy League Tournament since its inception in 2023. The Last time Columbia played in the postseason at Yale came in 2018, when the NCAA Tournament bid was a best-of-three series. The Lions earned a 4-0 victory in game one and won a thriller, 2-1, in 15 innings.
PENN'S STATUS
After starting conference play, 10-2, Penn dropped its final three series to earn the No. 3 seed this weekend. The Quakers tied Columbia for the most doubles in the league with 101, and their pitching staff recorded 373 strikeouts to pace the Ivy League.
Jarrett Pokrovsky is a .346 hitter with 24 doubles to pace the Penn offense. Davis Baker is the Quakers' top run producer with eight homers and 37 RBI.
Noah Miliken has consistently been Penn's opening game starter. He checks in with a 0-3 mark with a 5.34 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 55.2 innings. Thomas Shurtleff led the way with four saves and picked up two victories with a 2.92 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 24.2 innings.
YALE'S STATUS
The Bulldogs claimed the No. 1 seed after sweeping Dartmouth in the final weekend of the regular season. Yale has won 10 straight, including eight consecutive Ivy League contests, since April 19.
Yale's strength is its pitching, anchored by first-year ace Jack Ohman. Ohman is 8-0 with a 1.08 ERA and 78 strikeouts in 66.2 innings. Tate Evans has been a reliable arm out of the bullpen with four saves, 49 strikeouts and a 2.74 ERA in 20 appearances.
Third baseman Jack Dauer is the Bulldogs' top offensive threat, checking in with a .311 batting average with five homers and 39 RBI. Yale is also aggressive on the base paths, leading the Ivy League with 88 steals in 119 attempts.
HARVARD'S STATUS
The Crimson secured the final spot in the Ivy League Tournament after topping Princeton, 5-3, in a makeup game, and Yale topped Dartmouth twice last weekend.
George Cooper is hitting .342 with five homers and 29 RBI. Gio Colasante is also a threat for the long ball, belting a team-high eight dingers.
The 2024 Ivy League Pitcher of the Year, Colin Fang, leads the Harvard pitching staff with a 2-3 mark, 4.86 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 58.0 innings of work.
Columbia continues to be consistently the top-hitting team in the Ivy League. The Lions ranked either first or second in nine different team categories. Columbia ranks No. 8 in the NCAA in doubles per game (2.46) and boasts the Ivy League leaders in home runs, hits, RBI and sacrifice flies.
MILLER TIME
Junior shortstop Sam Miller had an Ivy League Player of the Year caliber season after hitting .350 with 14 homers and 51 RBI.
Miller is already second in Columbia history with 29 career homers, and his 14 dingers in 2025 put him third on the Lions' single-season list.
He was named to the Brooks Wallace Watchlist for the nation's top short list in April,
GRIFFIN-DOOR
Senior Griffin Palfrey is putting a nice cap on an outstanding career, hitting .265 with 14 doubles and 41 RBI, putting him in the top five in the conference in the latter two categories. The product of Vancouver, British Columbia, broke Columbia's all-time RBI record and is tied for second on the Lions' career doubles list (46). Palfrey was awarded the 2025 Connie S. Maniatty Award, the highest honor given to a Columbia student-athlete. Additionally, he was named to the John Olerud National Two-Way Player of the Year watchlist in April and has seen action in eight contests on the hill.
ANTON BOMBS
Senior Anton Lazits ranks among the conference leaders with 12 homers, 12 doubles and 36 RBI, while hitting .270 in 40 games. The Pittsfield, Massachusetts, product set Columbia's all-time runs record in game two against Brown on March 22. He is up to 169 for his career. He also ranks eighth in career hits (186), second in doubles (46), third in home runs (27), third in RBI (127) and second in walks (93).
FOR HE'S A JOLLY GOOD FELLOWS
Junior Cole Fellows earned the Blair Bat, given to the student-athlete with the highest batting average in conference play, after hitting at a .419 clip in 21 Ivy League games. He is the 13th Lion to earn the honor and first since Will Savage did so in 2014. The leftfielder hit .329 on the season with 12 doubles, 34 RBI and 34 runs scored.
Off the field, Fellows was named Captain of the 2025 Lou Gehrig Community Impact Team. The honor, presented in partnership by Phi Delta Theta and the Live Like Lou Foundation, recognizes college baseball players who demonstrate the spirit and legacy of Lou Gehrig through exceptional character, leadership, and commitment to community service.
NO AVERAGE JOE
Senior right-hander Joe Sheets has also made an impact on and off the diamond.
Sheets has been a part of the rotation all four years and ranks among Columbia's career leaders in strikeouts and innings pitched. In 2025, he made 11 starts and went 3-3 with 43 strikeouts in 55.2 innings.
Earlier this month, he was named to the inaugural Tony Gwynn Community Service Award "Starting 9," the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association
MORE MILESTONES FOR BORETTI
Already Columbia's all-time leader in wins, head coach Brett Boretti picked up a pair of milestones in 2025. On March 29, he won his 500th career game after topping Princeton. In the regular season finale, the eight-time Ivy League Champion racked up his 400th win at Columbia against Harvard.
POLL POSITION
Columbia was the unanimous choice to finish first in the Ivy League Preseason Poll. Penn was picked second and was the only other team successfully predicted to make the top four. Yale was picked fifth and Harvard was predicted to finish sixth.
LIONS IN THE PROS
Columbia currently has two players in the professional ranks. Left-handed pitcher Josh Simpson '18CC is on the 40-man roster for the Miami Marlins and is currently with AAA Jacksonville. Catcher Weston Eberly '23CC is in his third season in the Chicago White Sox organization and with AA Birmingham.
All games will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
COLUMBIA'S STATUS
The Lions earned a share of their 17th Ivy League title and second consecutive crown after posting a 16-5 mark in the Ancient Eight. Columbia earned the No. 2 seed in the tournament because Yale won the regular season series in April.
Since March 15, Columbia has posted a 23-8 record and has won 12 of its last 13 contests heading into the Ivy League Tournament.
The Lions are searching for their first win in this format of the Ivy League Tournament since its inception in 2023. The Last time Columbia played in the postseason at Yale came in 2018, when the NCAA Tournament bid was a best-of-three series. The Lions earned a 4-0 victory in game one and won a thriller, 2-1, in 15 innings.
PENN'S STATUS
After starting conference play, 10-2, Penn dropped its final three series to earn the No. 3 seed this weekend. The Quakers tied Columbia for the most doubles in the league with 101, and their pitching staff recorded 373 strikeouts to pace the Ivy League.
Jarrett Pokrovsky is a .346 hitter with 24 doubles to pace the Penn offense. Davis Baker is the Quakers' top run producer with eight homers and 37 RBI.
Noah Miliken has consistently been Penn's opening game starter. He checks in with a 0-3 mark with a 5.34 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 55.2 innings. Thomas Shurtleff led the way with four saves and picked up two victories with a 2.92 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 24.2 innings.
YALE'S STATUS
The Bulldogs claimed the No. 1 seed after sweeping Dartmouth in the final weekend of the regular season. Yale has won 10 straight, including eight consecutive Ivy League contests, since April 19.
Yale's strength is its pitching, anchored by first-year ace Jack Ohman. Ohman is 8-0 with a 1.08 ERA and 78 strikeouts in 66.2 innings. Tate Evans has been a reliable arm out of the bullpen with four saves, 49 strikeouts and a 2.74 ERA in 20 appearances.
Third baseman Jack Dauer is the Bulldogs' top offensive threat, checking in with a .311 batting average with five homers and 39 RBI. Yale is also aggressive on the base paths, leading the Ivy League with 88 steals in 119 attempts.
HARVARD'S STATUS
The Crimson secured the final spot in the Ivy League Tournament after topping Princeton, 5-3, in a makeup game, and Yale topped Dartmouth twice last weekend.
George Cooper is hitting .342 with five homers and 29 RBI. Gio Colasante is also a threat for the long ball, belting a team-high eight dingers.
The 2024 Ivy League Pitcher of the Year, Colin Fang, leads the Harvard pitching staff with a 2-3 mark, 4.86 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 58.0 innings of work.
AGAINST THE FIELD
VS. PENN 135-144-3
2025 MEETINGS (2-1)
April 25-27 (Philadelphia)
W, 4-3 L, 8-9 W, 11-3
VS. YALE 83-107
2025 MEETINGS (1-2)
April 11-13 (New Haven)
L, 3-7 L, 0-3 W, 6-3
VS. HARVARD 76-93-1
2025 MEETINGS (3-0)
May 3-4 (Cambridge)
W, 16-13 W, 8-3 W, 19-1
Columbia continues to be consistently the top-hitting team in the Ivy League. The Lions ranked either first or second in nine different team categories. Columbia ranks No. 8 in the NCAA in doubles per game (2.46) and boasts the Ivy League leaders in home runs, hits, RBI and sacrifice flies.
MILLER TIME
Junior shortstop Sam Miller had an Ivy League Player of the Year caliber season after hitting .350 with 14 homers and 51 RBI.
Miller is already second in Columbia history with 29 career homers, and his 14 dingers in 2025 put him third on the Lions' single-season list.
He was named to the Brooks Wallace Watchlist for the nation's top short list in April,
GRIFFIN-DOOR
Senior Griffin Palfrey is putting a nice cap on an outstanding career, hitting .265 with 14 doubles and 41 RBI, putting him in the top five in the conference in the latter two categories. The product of Vancouver, British Columbia, broke Columbia's all-time RBI record and is tied for second on the Lions' career doubles list (46). Palfrey was awarded the 2025 Connie S. Maniatty Award, the highest honor given to a Columbia student-athlete. Additionally, he was named to the John Olerud National Two-Way Player of the Year watchlist in April and has seen action in eight contests on the hill.
ANTON BOMBS
Senior Anton Lazits ranks among the conference leaders with 12 homers, 12 doubles and 36 RBI, while hitting .270 in 40 games. The Pittsfield, Massachusetts, product set Columbia's all-time runs record in game two against Brown on March 22. He is up to 169 for his career. He also ranks eighth in career hits (186), second in doubles (46), third in home runs (27), third in RBI (127) and second in walks (93).
FOR HE'S A JOLLY GOOD FELLOWS
Junior Cole Fellows earned the Blair Bat, given to the student-athlete with the highest batting average in conference play, after hitting at a .419 clip in 21 Ivy League games. He is the 13th Lion to earn the honor and first since Will Savage did so in 2014. The leftfielder hit .329 on the season with 12 doubles, 34 RBI and 34 runs scored.
Off the field, Fellows was named Captain of the 2025 Lou Gehrig Community Impact Team. The honor, presented in partnership by Phi Delta Theta and the Live Like Lou Foundation, recognizes college baseball players who demonstrate the spirit and legacy of Lou Gehrig through exceptional character, leadership, and commitment to community service.
NO AVERAGE JOE
Senior right-hander Joe Sheets has also made an impact on and off the diamond.
Sheets has been a part of the rotation all four years and ranks among Columbia's career leaders in strikeouts and innings pitched. In 2025, he made 11 starts and went 3-3 with 43 strikeouts in 55.2 innings.
Earlier this month, he was named to the inaugural Tony Gwynn Community Service Award "Starting 9," the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association
MORE MILESTONES FOR BORETTI
Already Columbia's all-time leader in wins, head coach Brett Boretti picked up a pair of milestones in 2025. On March 29, he won his 500th career game after topping Princeton. In the regular season finale, the eight-time Ivy League Champion racked up his 400th win at Columbia against Harvard.
POLL POSITION
Columbia was the unanimous choice to finish first in the Ivy League Preseason Poll. Penn was picked second and was the only other team successfully predicted to make the top four. Yale was picked fifth and Harvard was predicted to finish sixth.
LIONS IN THE PROS
Columbia currently has two players in the professional ranks. Left-handed pitcher Josh Simpson '18CC is on the 40-man roster for the Miami Marlins and is currently with AAA Jacksonville. Catcher Weston Eberly '23CC is in his third season in the Chicago White Sox organization and with AA Birmingham.
Players Mentioned
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