CU Baseball Swept by UNC Charlotte

In 27 innings of weekend action, the Columbia baseball team held a lead for just one inning as they were swept in a three-game series by host UNC Charlotte. The Charlotte offense put up 18 total runs on the weekend, while two complete game efforts on the mound helped limit the Lions to six runs overall.

On Saturday at noon, the two teams kicked off an afternoon doubleheader, and the 49ers (7-3) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first with three singles, a walk, and a sacrifice fly off of Lions starter Joe Scarlata. Scarlata, who took the loss and dropped to 0-2 on the season, went on to yield two more runs over a total of seven innings, allowing nine hits, one walk, and notching one strikeout.

Offensively, the Lions were unable to muster a sustained attack on Charlotte starter Joe Yermal, who needed just 88 pitches to go the distance against the Columbia lineup. The Lions managed seven hits in the game, but could not mount any serious threats in the loss. An abbreviated fifth-inning rally materialized when catcher Dean Forthun singled and right fielder Billy Rumpke was hit by a pitch, putting two on with two out. But center fielder Nick Cox grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

The Lions finally broke through with their only run in the sixth, when shortstop Alex Ferrera doubled home second baseman Jon Eisen, who was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. But Yermal was able to clamp down in the late innings, allowing one hit in both the seventh and eighth before retiring the side in order in the ninth.

Saturday’s first game marked the season debut for reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year Nick Cox, who sat out last weekend with an injured hamstring as a precautionary measure. Cox’s return pushed Eisen, who hit .412 in four games against Lamar last week, out of the leadoff spot, to the No. 2 slot in the lineup, where the freshman went 2-for-3. Cox also forced Eisen out of center field and into the infield at second base.

Game two saw a good deal more offense, as both starters were replaced in the seventh inning. In the top of the inning, Cox came up with runners on the corners and two down with the Lions trailing 3-1. The sophomore center fielder, who had gone 0-for-4 in game one, came through with an RBI single that pulled the Light Blue within one. Eisen, who moved to left field in game two, and first baseman Ron Williams each followed with run-scoring singles to give Columbia their first lead of the series, but third baseman Mike Roberts struck out to end the rally.

Lions starter Geoff Whitaker was unable to hold Columbia’s 4-3 edge. He was replaced by Joey Mizzoni after yielding two singles and a wild pitch, and Mizzoni was unable to stop the Charlotte onslaught, which put four on the board behind a two-run homer by Ryan Rivers. The 49ers put two more across in the eighth, pushing their lead to five. In the ninth, Rumpke and second baseman Chris Meininger led off with back-to-back singles, but Cox fanned and Eisen grounded into a double play to send Columbia to their second defeat of the day.

Although he had entered the bottom of the seventh hoping to earn his first win of the year, Whitaker’s seventh-inning struggles dropped his record to 0-2, as he allowed five earned runs in 6 1/3 innings. Kelly McLain threw an inning of one-run ball in relief for the 49ers to pick up the win.

On Sunday afternoon, the Lions again faced a dominating Charlotte pitcher, this time in the form of Patrick Lawson, who, like Yermal on Saturday, tossed nine innings of one-run ball using just 88 pitches. Columbia’s sole run came in the second inning on designated hitter Alex Aurrichio’s first collegiate home run, a solo shot to deep center. With the homer and his eighth-inning single, Aurrichio accounted for half of Columbia’s four hits on the afternoon. The others came off the bats of Williams and Forthun.

For the second straight day, Rivers had a dinger for Charlotte, providing a pair of insurance runs in the 49ers’ three-run seventh. Aaron Bray also homered.
Dan Bracey (0-2) took the loss for Columbia, allowing four earned runs in six innings of work.

The Lions next take the field on Friday at UC-Riverside, the start of a 10-game California road trip over Columbia’s spring break.