This time last year, Columbia baseball entered its final series of the season against Penn. The Lions swept the four-game set and proceeded to defeat Dartmouth in a three-game series to capture the Ivy League title. This season has unfolded differently for the defending champs. The Lions currently find themselves with their back against the wall and in need of another four-game sweep over Penn this weekend in order to keep their Ivy hopes alive.
The margin for error has dwindled for the Light Blue, which has dropped its last three series of division matchups against Brown, Princeton, and Cornell. Fresh off a meaningless thumping in a doubleheader against Manhattan College this past Wednesday, Columbia is in a do-or-die predicament. Princeton and Cornell remain tied for first place in the Gehrig Division, while Columbia trails by two games and Penn by six. Even if the Lions sweep the Quakers this weekend, they will have to hope that the Tigers and Big Red split their four-game set in order to force a tiebreaker for a spot in the league championship against the Rolfe Division winner.
With a 2-14 conference record (14-23 overall), Penn has had a hard time this season. Statistically, the Quakers have a well rounded squad that features consistent hitters and an adequate pitching staff. Penn’s lineup includes a plethora of top-notch bats that account for the team’s impressive .300 batting average. Sophomore outfielder Jeremy Mass leads the pack with a blistering .373 average in 110 at bats.
The Quakers also have some pop on their roster with sluggers like William Gordon. Gordon, a junior infielder, ranks first on the team with eight home runs and 36 RBI.
On the other hand, the Lions maintain a batting average of just .264 and have clubbed only 19 home runs on the season. Only sophomore Bobby O’Brien is hitting over the .300 mark in 2009, with a .338 batting average.
While stringing runs together has been a problem, lackluster pitching has not been helping matters. Not a single Columbia pitcher holds a winning record this season and the staff as a whole has been rung up with an ERA of 6.36. Joe Scarlata has been the most productive starter in the rotation with a 5.40 ERA, a team-best 53 and one-third innings pitched, and four complete games. Opponents are hitting .307 against the staff as a whole.
Penn is coming off a two-game split with the Lehigh University Mountain Hawks. The Quakers trailed by 10 runs late in game one, but they staged a seven-hit, 11-run rally in the top of the seventh to take the lead in a shocking turn of events. Gordon silenced Lehigh hitters in the final frame of the contest to complete the miraculous comeback victory.
Penn nearly pulled off another late resurgence in game two of the doubleheader. After surrendering 11 runs over the first four innings of play, the Quakers plated seven runners over three innings, but the deficit proved insurmountable—the Mountain Hawks closed out the game with an 11-7 win.
There is no team in the Ancient Eight that the Light Blue would rather face in the final series of regular-season play. Still, Columbia has no room for mistakes this weekend. A loss in one of the four games would eradicate its dream of becoming the first team to win back-to-back Ivy baseball titles since Princeton in 2003 and 2004.
Both doubleheaders this weekend will begin at noon. Saturday’s action will take place at Robertson Field, while Penn will be hosting Sunday’s twin bill.
