While most students spent the week visiting home or lounging on a fabulous beach, the men on Collumbia’s baseball team kept their bats busy over spring break, playing at least a game each day.
The string of games started right away as the Lions split a pair of games against Richmond (9-8). This first duel began Friday night and the teams got through seven innings before darkness suspended the game until Saturday.
In the matchup, the Spiders drew first blood thanks to a double play started by pitcher Pat Lowery. Lowery fielded a bunt from Richmond’s Cameron Brown, threw it to second baseman Jon Eisen who fired it to first to end the inning and limit Richmond to one run.
Though the Lions quickly tied it up 1-1 as Nick Crucet crossed the plate in the second inning, by the end of the sixth inning the Spiders had taken a 6-2 lead.
Columbia came close to a comeback in the seventh when Richmond walked in the Light Blue’s third run and the Lions kept three men on base, but relief pitcher Jay Joines stepped in for the Spiders and held the score to 6-3.
When the two teams resumed play on Saturday, neither was able to put any more runs on the board as Columbia’s Tim Giel and Richmond’s Billy Barber both pitched two scoreless innings to end the game.
With a quick turnaround, the regularly scheduled game began soon after and this time it was the Lions who took the early lead. Columbia posted three runs before the Spiders could force as many outs.
The first two runs came off the bat of Alexander Aurrichio who crossed home to record the third off a sacrifice fly from Nick Ferraresi.
It looked as if Columbia was going to hold a significant 8-0 lead after captain Jason Banos cranked one down the left-field line with the bases loaded in the fourth but the call was overturned and the shot ruled foul, bringing the lead back to 5-0.
After Banos struck out, Richmond’s pitcher walked Aurrichio to give the Lions back one of their missing runs.
The Spiders put three runs on the board in the bottom of the fourth, two in the fifth and another two in the sixth to take the lead 7-6. It wouldn’t be enough though thanks to a four-run eighth inning, the game ended with the Lions on top 12-7.
Sunday’s game against Richmond was canceled due to weather so Columbia’s trip continued on to Blacksburg, Va. where the Lions lost a 22-10 slugfest to Virginia Tech (13-8).
The runs began to tally as early as the first inning with the Hokies leading 7-0 by the end of the second inning.
Columbia’s bats were hot in the top of the fourth though as the Light Blue posted seven runs to tie the score at 8-8. The first two runs home came off the bat of captain Dean Forthun, then Alex Godshall brought Forthun around on a ground out. Nick Cox ripped a homerun, to score him and Eisen. Virginia Tech tried switching up pitchers after Banos singled but Aurrichio promptly knocked one out of the park to score the final two runs of the inning.
In the next two half-innings, both teams scored twice more before the Hokies launched into a nine-run, eight-hit campaign in the bottom of the sixth to bring the score to 19-10. The last runs were tacked on in the seventh and eighth innings to finalize the tally 22-10.
Leading the Lions in the loss were Aurrichio, Banos, Cox and Forthun who each had four hits in the game.
But the men were not left to dwell as they opened a two-game series against Appalachian State the next day in Boone, N.C.
It looked like Columbia’s luck was going to change as the Light Blue nearly edged out the Mountaineers but a ninth inning rally gave Appalachian State the victory, 10-9.
The Mountaineers took advantage of the Lions’ sore paws, scoring four runs over the first three innings and retiring Columbia’s entire batting order the first time through without a single hit.
The Light Blue snapped out of it in the fourth off the bats of Crucet and Eisen who opened the inning with a pair of doubles and the team’s first run. After each team posted a few runs here and there, the fifth inning closed with the Mountaineers ahead 6-3.
After two scoreless innings, the Lions finally got back on the board with a four-run effort in the top of the eighth. Columbia took the lead 7-6 off the bats of Dario Pizzano, Eric Williams and Billy Rumpke who combined for the four RBI.
Appalachian State countered with a run in the bottom of the inning to tie it up but Columbia got right back into it in the ninth to take back the lead. After Crucet and Banos got on, both stole a base and put themselves in perfect position as Ferraresi came up to the plate. Ferraresi doubled to right center, picked up the two RBI and gave the Lions another glimmer of hope.
In the bottom of the ninth, down by two, it looked like Appalachian State was about to lose its first game in 16 home matchups. But Mountaineer Chris Alessandria singled down the left side, Chris Trappy doubled to tie it up at 9-9 and Tyler Zupcic put the nail in the coffin with a simple double to right center bringing in the winning 10th run.
The two teams met up again the next day, St. Patrick’s Day, and this time Columbia’s bats were warmed up from the start and the mound was on fire. Starter Geoff Whitaker pitched four straight scoreless innings before the Mountaineers finally got on the board.
On the Lions’ side of things, Eisen smacked his first collegiate home run over the fence to give Columbia the lead 1-0 in the top of the first.
The Light Blue added to the total when Billy Rumpke drove Alex Ferrera around the diamond with a double in the second and Bobby O’Brien hit an RBI single in the fifth.
A Mountaineer finally made it around the bases, posting four runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to take an 8-3 lead.
While the Lions would score again in the seventh inning off a double by Banos, it wouldn’t be enough to overtake Appalachian State who took the win 8-4.
The tables finally turned on Thursday as the Lions added one to the W column against Winthrop (12-7) in Rock Hill, S.C. in a game that highlighted the skill of the Light Blue pitching crew.
Lowery started for Columbia and allowed only one run over eight innings. The same was true for Winthrop’s starter as the two teams came into the ninth inning tied 1-1.
Finally in the top of the ninth, Eisen cranked out an RBI double to right-center, lighting the spark that brought in two more runs.
Winthrop tried to fight back and put one more run up on the board before relief pitcher Derek Squires came in with two outs left to seal up the 4-2 victory.
Friday marked the final weekend of play and the beginning of the Winthrop University Coca-Cola Classic tournament. The Lions dropped matches to Kent State, Winthrop and Penn State before the final game against Winthrop was canceled.
In the first game on Friday, the Light Blue dropped a 5-2 decision to Kent State. Starter Dan Bracey held the Golden Flash scoreless through three innings before letting up two runs in the fourth.
Bracey was able to keep Kent State quiet for two more innings after that, before handing the mound over to Roger Aquino who gave up 2 in the seventh. After Aquino, Zach Epstein and Clay Bartlett kept things under wraps on the hill.
From the batters box it was Ferraresi and Aurrichio, in the fourth and eighth innings, who contributed two notches to Columbia’s total.
Later that day, the Lions dropped their second match to Winthrop, 11-5.
The Eagles scored first to make it 2-0 in the second but Columbia tied it up in the fourth, giving Banos and Pizzano another RBI each.
The Eagles posted a rebuttal run in the fourth and pulled away with four runs in the bottom of the fifth.
The sixth inning was busy with both teams adding three more runs to their tallies. For the Lions, Ferrera knocked one out to right field to bring around himself, Banos and Aurrichio.
The final run was scored in the bottom of the eighth to give Winthrop its 11-5 win.
Saturday’s game, which ended up being the last of the southern tour, was a disappointing 6-5 loss to Penn State.
The Lions jumped ahead to a 5-0 lead in the first four innings. But Penn State started to claw its way back, starting with three runs in the bottom of the fourth, another in the fifth and seventh. The final run came in the bottom of the ninth when Joey DeBernardis RBI singled to right center.
In the loss, Eisen led the Lions with three hits while Aurrichio and Pizzano each contributed two.
Next up, the Lions get a quick break from competition, resting until tomorrow afternoon when they’ll face St. John's in Jamaica, N.Y. at 3 p.m.
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