The Columbia baseball team marched into the 2009 regular season weekend finale against Penn in an unenviable position. The Lions, by virtue of earlier series losses to Princeton and Cornell, were in need of a near-miracle to stay alive. Two things had to happen this weekend for Columbia to force a tiebreaker atop the Gehrig Division. First, the Lions had to sweep their four-game set against last-place Penn. Second, Princeton and Cornell had to split their series 2-2. Such an outcome would force a three-way tie atop the division and require a set of tiebreakers to see who would play Dartmouth for the league title.
In the end, the Tigers and the Big Red did split, but the Lions won’t be joining them this afternoon as they face off in a one-game playoff to determine the division winner. Columbia finished the weekend 1-3 against the cellar-dwelling Quakers and lost the final three games in typical Light Blue fashion.
Although the Lions have had trouble putting men on base all season, they have had even more difficulties bringing baserunners around to home plate. Late-game clutch hitting has been a weakness for the team all season long, and this past weekend Columbia had no room allow any precious scoring opportunities to slip by.
In game one at Robertson Field, the Light Blue showed admirable resilience after a tough start in their quest to keep the season alive. Joe Scarlata, a pitching stalwart and the team’s undisputed number-one starter, was uncharacteristically pounded in the first inning of Saturday’s opener. After he served up an RBI double and a three-run homer for an early four-run deficit, Columbia’s hopes for a sweep appeared to be in serious jeopardy.
But Scarlata settled down after the first and his hitters bailed him out of the early hole. Mike Roberts connected for a grand slam in the bottom of the first, instantly erasing the deficit, before Alex Ferrera’s two-run shot put the Lions ahead for good. Quaker starter Tom Grandieri didn’t survive the inning, and Columbia went on to complete the 13-5 blowout win. Scarlata earned his fourth win of the year in his final collegiate start with a seven-inning complete-game effort.
In game two on Saturday, the Lions had myriad opportunities to take advantage of Penn miscues and bring home baserunners, but their inability to do so cost them any shot at a share of the division title. Penn’s 11-7 victory, which was keyed by Will Gordon’s sixth-inning grand slam, was a closer game than the final score suggests.
In the third inning, for example, the Light Blue recovered from an early deficit with a pair of runs to tie the game at two. With two runs already in and only one out, Ron Williams stepped up to the plate with two runners aboard and a chance to give his team the lead. Quaker starter Todd Roth struck him out swinging, however, and Roberts popped up to end the threat.
Roberts killed another rally in the fifth. With a run in and Columbia down by two, he flied out to right, stranding two runners in scoring position.
An inning later, Dean Forthun stepped to the plate with the bases juiced and one away, seeking to chip away at Penn’s 10-5 advantage. His ground ball to third set up a 5-4-3 double play, snuffing out the rally.
Forthun also struck out looking to end Columbia’s half of the eighth while Jon Eisen looked on just 90 feet away at third base. At the time, the Lions trailed 11-7.
The score remained unchanged entering the last half of the ninth. With Columbia’s season on the line, Roberts and Alex Aurrichio notched back-to-back one-out walks, bringing the tying run to the on-deck circle. But Ferrera and Bobby O’Brien popped out to center, handing the Quakers their second league win of the campaign and mathematically eliminating the Lions from competition. In total, the Light Blue left 10 runners on base in game two.
Columbia’s inability to come through with timely hitting on Saturday afternoon elucidated a season-long trend. Overall, the team’s offensive season statistics were fairly weak. The Light Blue’s .275 batting average was worst in the league, but not much lower than that of Gehrig foes Princeton and Cornell. Columbia’s .350 on-base percentage was also last among the Ivies.
On the other had, the Lions did show flashes of small-ball brilliance, leading the league in stolen bases with 49 and executing an impressive 18 sacrifice bunts.
And yet the Lions still could not capitalize on many key scoring chances. Columbia hitters struck out 271 times this season, most in the Ivy League. They also grounded into 31 double-plays, second-most in the conference. This devastating number indicates that in 31 separate instances, potential big innings were erased in one unfortunate stroke.
Columbia hitters froze up time and again this season with men on base. The team’s .275 overall batting average dropped to .274 with runners in scoring position, and all the way down to .233 with the bases loaded.
In order to win games in Ivy ball, hitters need to perform better—not worse—when the game is on the line. Difficulties in situational hitting doomed the Lions both in Saturday’s loss and in the season as a whole. They will be hoping for more clutch hitting in 2010.
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