CU Heads to Hofstra After St. John's Loss

The Columbia baseball team experienced an offensive explosion Tuesday afternoon. Unfortunately, it came from the opposing team.

In a game that was supposed to come down to pitching, the Lions surrendered 24 runs to the St. John's Red Storm in Queens, N.Y. Light Blue starting pitcher Chris Hunter looked fine in his first inning of work, holding the Red Storm scoreless and giving up only one hit. But the game turned sour in the second inning, when St. John's scored three runs on three hits and two walks. It would only get worse from then, as St. John's went on to score three runs in the third. In the fourth inning, both of the Red Storm's hitting stars, seniors Anthony Smith and Ryan Mahoney, homered off of Hunter to drive in an additional three runs.

Hunter lasted only four innings, surrendering a total of 11 hits and nine runs, eight of them earned. When Matt Berninger came in for relief in the fifth inning, the Lions got anything but, as Berninger recorded only one out and gave up 10 runs on five hits, highlighted by another two-run home run by Smith.

On the other side of the scorecard, the opposing pitching staff shut down the Lions' offense. Starter Matt Tosoni held the Lions hitless through four and relinquished only one run with zero walks and seven strikeouts. Columbia co-captain Andrew Ward, who had been leading the team with a .382 batting average, two home runs, and 25 RBI, struck out twice in two at bats.

Columbia (7-11-1, 3-1 Ivy) will try to redeem itself today as it continues to play nonconference teams, this time in a makeup game against Hofstra. The Pride (9-13, 4-5 CAA) lost to Seton Hall University yesterday 3-1 to drop to sixth in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Lions' pitchers will need to contain Hofstra's most potent hitter, Matt Prokopowicz. While he was hitless against Seton Hall, the freshman infielder is leading the team with a .429 batting average and 21 RBI.

In addition to 24 hits, Columbia pitchers gave up 16 walks versus just four strikeouts against St. John's. Red Storm pitchers exhibited much better control, striking out 11 Lions and walking none. In order to defeat Hofstra and establish some momentum before facing off against Ivy League rivals Dartmouth and Harvard this weekend, the Columbia pitching staff will need to find the strike zone and hold its ground on days when the offense cannot carry the team.

First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at University Field in Hempstead, N.Y.