After last year’s championship season, Columbia baseball struggled in the second half of the 2009 campaign and found itself in dire need of a series sweep against Penn this weekend. With a loss in game two of Saturday’s doubleheader, however, the Lions’ quest to repeat as Ivy League champions came to an end.
One bright spot in weekend action was first baseman Ron Williams’ record-setting performance in game one of Sunday’s doubleheader. With his 204th career hit, he overtook Bart Teal, CC ’95, to set the all-time hits record at Columbia. He finished his four-year career with 205.
Both teams struck early and convincingly in the first game of the series on Saturday at Robertson Field. Senior Joe Scarlata took the hill for the Lions in his last collegiate start. Penn leadoff hitter and starting pitcher Tom Grandieri started things off with a double to right-center and advanced to third on a passed ball. Derek Vigoa brought his teammate home on a double to left field. After Scarlata walked Will Gordon and retired Jeremy Mass, Dan Williams launched a long three-run homer to dead center. Scarlata managed to quell the onslaught, but the Quakers had a 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the first.
Columbia made sure the lead didn’t last, racking up seven runs in the bottom half of the frame. Grandieri walked the first three batters he faced before Ron Williams popped out. Mike Roberts took advantage of the bases-loaded opportunity to muscle a grand slam over the center-field wall and knot the game at four runs apiece. Three hitters later, Alex Ferrera deposited a round-tripper to right-center, knocking in Bobby O’Brien. After Pat Brennan was called to relieve Grandieri, the Light Blue tacked on its seventh run of the inning when Nick Cox brought Billy Rumpke home with a double to left.
After their explosive first inning, the Quakers only added one more run on a solo shot by Grandieri in the top of the fifth. The Lions, however, relentlessly plated six more runners and went on to win by a final score of 13-5. Scarlata improved his record to 4-5 on the season in a seven-inning complete-game effort in which he fanned five and allowed five runs. Grandieri’s brief outing dropped his season record to 1-5.
While Penn’s pitchers struggled in game one, the next contest played out differently as starter Todd Roth lasted eight innings. Seven Lions crossed home on his watch, but only four of those were charged to his ERA. After two scoreless innings, each team scored twice in the third.
The teams continued to swap runs over the course of five innings as the Quakers trampled starting pitcher Pat Lowery and reliever Roger Aquino. Harrison Slutsky also allowed a run to score before Joey Mizzoni put a stop to the onslaught with two shutout innings.
The fatal blow to Columbia came on a grand slam off Will Gordon’s bat in Penn’s half of the sixth inning. The Quakers never really managed to fully subdue to the Lions’ bats, but nevertheless they were able to pull off an 11-7 victory. The defeat eliminated Columbia mathematically in its quest to win the Gehrig Division.
After splitting Saturday’s doubleheader, the teams packed up and traveled to Philadelphia for another twin bill on Sunday. Playoff hopes crushed, Columbia scored one run in the top of the first in game three, but the Quakers countered immediately and posted a four-spot in the bottom of the first to take a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. The Light Blue came within two runs of its adversary with a run in the third on an RBI double by Alex Aurrichio to bring home Jon Eisen. But Penn’s hitters got to Dan Bracey again in the fourth with an RBI double by Grandieri and a three-run blast by Gordon.
The Quakers busted the contest wide open in the fifth as they rallied on three hits to extend their lead to 8-2. Penn’s Vince Voiro pitched a gem into the seventh inning, when his control wavered and the Lions tried to salvage some dignity with four hits and three runs in the inning. Regardless, the effort didn’t match that of the Quakers, and Columbia lost 11-5.
The Lions closed out their season in embarrassing fashion in Sunday’s second game. After his offense scored in each of the first two innings, Penn’s Chris McNulty was rung up for four runs in the top of the third. The Lions added to their lead with a run in both the fourth and sixth innings, and a three-spot in top of the seventh to take a 9-2 lead. With a season-ending win in sight, the Light Blue’s bullpen couldn’t find its control, and in the blink of an eye saw its seven-run lead evaporate. The Quakers shelled Slutsky, Joey Mizzoni, and Brian Valero en route to scoring an eye-popping 13 runs in the bottom of the eighth. Columbia bats were silenced in the top of the ninth, cementing Penn’s 15-9 victory.
Columbia needed four wins this weekend, along with a series split for Cornell and Princeton, to attain a three-way tie atop the division. While the Big Red and the Tigers obliged by winning two apiece, the Lions were unable to hold up their end of the bargain to force a tiebreaker. Columbia will have a long offseason to contemplate the events of 2009’s final weekend.
