Baseball Opens Season With 19-Game Road Trip

As summer ends and fall begins to take hold of Morningside Heights, some baseball fans are already looking toward spring training. Yesterday, the 2008 Ivy League baseball schedule was announced, and its makeup will certainly have an effect on Columbia’s upcoming season.

The Lions open the season on March 1 against Duke, a member of the ACC. Columbia will then head out west for a four-game set against Pepperdine, which should be a good indicator of the team’s performance level. While the first two opponents will be tough to beat, the experience could better prepare Columbia to compete for an Ivy League title next season.

Following its trip to California, the Light Blue will play 10 road games on an east coast swing that includes Georgia Southern, Davidson, and Liberty. The Lions will then return to New York to take on local rival St. John’s on March 25 before their home opener.
Hopefully, the first 19 games of the season will be proper preparation for Columbia’s return to Andy Coakley Field on March 29 for its home and Ivy League season opener against Brown. The players will also have a newly renovated field to look forward to, as the installation of the FieldTurf surface should be completed this fall.

The Lions will host Ivy League opponents Brown, Yale, and Princeton and hit the road to face Harvard, Dartmouth, and Cornell this season. Columbia and Penn will play a home-and-home series to close out the Ivy League regular season for both teams.

In addition to Ivy League rivals, the Lions will host Army, Rutgers, and Fordham, as well as pay a visit to local foe Manhattan College.