Lions Seek Potent Offense to Keep Hot Pace

Sitting at the top of the Lou Gehrig Division is not a place the Columbia baseball team is accustomed to, but heading into its first weekend of intra-divisional play with four home games against Princeton, the Lions sit two games up on the second-place Tigers. Yet, head coach Brett Boretti only sees room for improvement.

“Offensively there is room for growth,” he said. “We are hitting .273 as a team and I think we are much better than that.”

While second baseman Henry Perkins and outfielders Jason Banos and Nick Cox are all hitting above .340, the team as a whole has been somewhat erratic in its offensive output. In its last two games, the Light Blue scored seven runs combined, while in the two games prior to that it scored 17. Columbia ranks in the bottom half of the Ivy League in offensive statistics, including batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, home runs, and runs scored.

One area in which the Lions have excelled is producing doubles, ranking second behind Yale with 50.

“I think we have a couple of guys who can hit the long ball,” Boretti said. “But I’d like to see us hit more consistently with our doubles. We are a doubles hitting team and we need to stay in that mind-set and not get worried about the home run.”

Heading into this weekend against Princeton, Columbia’s ability to capitalize on opportunities offensively will be put to the test against the pitching staff with the second lowest earned run average and the most strikeouts in the league.

“Princeton has some very good arms,” Boretti said. “They have a couple power arms and a couple of guys we are familiar with through recruiting. We need to execute situationally.”

One area Boretti cannot complain about is the performance of his own pitching staff. Though his pitchers struggled in the early nonconference schedule, they have allowed just 29 runs in their first eight Ivy games and surrendered two runs or less in three of four games against Harvard and Dartmouth last weekend.

Two players who were dominant in their outings last weekend were John Baumann and Joe Scarlata. Baumann, who threw just once a week in the month of February due to his commitment to the basketball team, made his first Ivy League start Sunday and pitched a complete game.

Boretti said that Baumann’s seamless transition from basketball to baseball surprised him when he first arrived at Columbia, but now, given the kind of athlete he is, it just seems natural.

Scarlata has been more of a surprise. He missed all but one game of last season due to an injury he suffered two years ago and entered league play with an ERA over 10. In his first two league starts, Scarlata has pitched two complete games and surrendered just two earned runs in 14 innings.

“It has been great,” Boretti said. “Based off his preseason work we knew we had something special. He struggled a little over spring break and I think the adversity helped him. It is quite a comeback story.”

With Princeton being a “pitching team” according to Boretti, the Lions may need both Scarlata and Baumann to replicate last weekend’s performances, especially with southpaw Bill Purdy struggling.

Now that Gehrig Division play has started, each win means that much more.
The Lions get their first chance to expand their lead over Princeton Saturday at noon, weather permitting. All four games will be played at Andy Coakley Field.