When Jon Eisen first arrived at Columbia in the fall, he was already a proud member of the defending Ivy League champion baseball team. After eight months and two-thirds of a baseball season under his belt in Morningside, he still identifies with that team—but he’s finding that the Lions are having some difficulty maintaining their title. Their division record as of now is 5-7.
Still, Eisen himself has been a bright spot since day one in a season that has not been so kind to the Light Blue of late. Well, maybe not since day one. On Opening Day against Lamar in Texas, Eisen hit leadoff and reached base on his first two opportunities, once after being plunked and once on a single to left. Both times he was gunned down trying to steal second base.
Undeterred, the switch-hitting freshman has since proceeded to cement his place both at second base and in the number two slot on head coach Brett Boretti’s lineup card. And second isn’t even his natural position.
“I really didn’t have a natural position,” he said. “In high school I played all three outfield positions, I played shortstop, second base, third base. I kind of knew when I came to Columbia I’d be playing second base or center field or somewhere in the outfield.”
Although he’s happy to be at second, he comes to the ballpark ready for any last-minute audibles. “I think I’m at second for now, but I always carry around my outfield glove in my bag,” he said.
Statistically, it’s easy to see why Eisen’s name on the roster bodes well for the baseball team over the next three-plus seasons. His .296 batting average, third-best on the team, provides a spark near the top of the lineup ahead of the RBI powerhouses. He’s also among team leaders with eight stolen bases (second), 17 runs scored (fifth), 32 hits (second), and 16 runs batted in (third). Eisen has only struck out nine times on the year, fewest among the squad’s regular starters.
“I’m just trying to do what I can to help out the team,” he said. “Offensively, my job is just to get on base and make some things happen.”
Eisen has been making things happen on the field for much of his life, and his accomplishments have not been limited to the baseball diamond. Besides playing baseball for four years at his high school in Nashville, he also tried his luck at basketball, cross country, and football.
“In football I played running back and corner,” he said. “I actually didn’t start playing football until my junior year.” Still, he managed to snag a pair of varsity letters.
Eisen was heavily involved in student government back in Nashville as class secretary. He was also a member of the Boy Scouts through his junior year.
“I have to brag about myself for a minute,” he said, “but I actually got Eagle Scout, which was pretty cool.”
Until the late fall of his senior year, Eisen wasn’t even considering Columbia as an option for college. “At the time, I was being recruited by Penn, Davidson, Emory, and a couple other schools,” he said. Then he went down to play in a showcase in Florida. Coach Boretti came up to him after a long day on the field.
“From the second that I met him, I was just really impressed, I was really excited about it,” Eisen said. “The night after I talked to him, I went on the Columbia Web site. ... Actually I e-mailed him back that night at one o’clock in the morning.” On an official visit to campus just a couple weeks later, Eisen decided he belonged here and committed immediately.
Although the Ivy League baseball season demands a grueling schedule and offers no reprieve from the rigor of Columbia classes, Eisen downplayed the influence of baseball on schoolwork.
“I think if you ask an average student whether he was struggling with finding a balance between academics and social life and all the other extracurriculars that everyone’s interested in, I mean it’s just as tough for me and for other athletes,” he said. “I try to get a lot of work done on bus trips.”
That’s not to say he crams his nose in a book when everyone else is having a good time. “It’s been a lot of fun,” he said. “The guys on the team, we have a lot of fun together.”
In order to repeat last year’s title run, this close-knit group of student-athletes will have to start beating conference opponents. Right now, the Lions are tied for first place with Cornell and Princeton in a relatively weak Gehrig Division. With a strong finish, they still have a chance to capture the division crown.
“We actually haven’t won as many games as we’d like to,” Eisen said.
But it’s far too early to lose all hope. “We still like the position that we’re in.”