Lions love the spring

The 2012 spring season is coming to a close as most teams enter the final countdown to the conclusion of competition. Though course grades won’t be out for a few more weeks, we can take a look at how the Lions have stacked up this spring. The Men’s Tennis team finished up at 2nd place in the Ivy League behind Harvard and ranked #45 nationally, while the Women’s squad had their best season in program history, finishing 3rd in the League. Baseball closed out the season with three out of four wins in their final series against Penn, including an emphatic 11-1 final victory. Meanwhile, the Track & Field team continued to break records, this time taking down a 20-year old Ivy League record in the Men’s 4x800m run. After two round of golf, the Columbia Men’s team sits in second with four players in the top 11 and the Women improved to fourth place. Not too shabby, Lions. 

Read on for more Columbia Athletics news and scores as the Lions wrap up the spring season and 2011-2012 academic year.

Columbia Lions weekly round-up:

Men’s Tennis (18-3, 5-2 Ivy League):

Results:

The #45 Lions finished their regular season last weekend, but had to await the Harvard vs. Dartmouth match to see whether they would claim the Ivy League title. The best case scenario was a three-way tie to for the title if the Big Green beat the Crimson, in which case the Lions would earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after having beaten both teams head-to-head. However, Harvard edged out Dartmouth, 4-3, to clinch the Ivy League title and earn an automatic bid. Columbia finished in 2nd place with a 5-2 record and will learn this week whether they make the tournament.

Women’s Tennis (13-6, 4-3 Ivy League):

Results:

Women’s Tennis finished in a tie for third with Harvard, behind Princeton and Yale. The Bulldogs captured their second straight Ivy League title with an undefeated conference record. The Lions had their best season in program history, setting the record for wins in a season, Ivy League wins, and tallied the first ever Ivy League winning season. The squad ended the season 4-3 in the Ivy League and 13-6 overall.

Baseball (21-24, 12-8 Ivy League):

Results:

Fordham (Game 1) 6-1 (W)
Fordham (Game 2) 2-4 (L)
Penn (Game 1) 12-2 (W)
Penn (Game 2) 13-3 (W)
Penn (Game 1) 5-8 (W)
Penn (Game 2) 11-1 (W)

Highlights: The Lions concluded the 2012 season with a four-game series against Penn, ending the year on a high note with three emphatic wins. In game one on Friday, Columbia got on the board in the first inning when junior Nick Ferraresi’s RBI single plated senior Jon Eisen. The game remained close with both teams trading runs until junior Alex Black hammered his first collegiate home run in the fifth inning to make it a 4-2 game in favor of the Lions. Senior Harrison Slutsky came on in the sixth to relieve senior Pat Lowery, who allowed only one earned run over 5 2/3 innings in his final collegiate start. The game opened up in the seventh inning when the Quakers hit three batters and walked two to start the inning, extending the Lions lead to four. Junior Nick Crucet had the first hit of the inning with an RBI single, and sophomore Enmanuel Cabreja followed with a walk to force another run. Sophomore Aaron Siblar, senior Alex Aurrichio, and junior Dario Pizzano all singled to drive in three more runs, making it a 12-2 game. In game two, the Quakers were first to get on the board, but the Lions struck back in the third with three runs. Senior Billy Rumpke started the scoring off with a line drive to right field to plate Siblar. Pizzano, Ferraresi, and Black followed with singles to make it a 3-1 game. Though Penn answered with a run in the bottom of the third, the Lions came out swinging in the fourth with a huge nine run inning. With Crucet on second, Siblar ripped a triple to start the scoring off. Rumpke followed with another RBI single and Pizzano smacked a two-run double to make it a 7-2 game. Black continued the hot streak with an RBI single and Siblar added one more with an RBI double. Eisen tallied the final run of the inning with a ground single to left field as the Lions led 12-2. In the seventh, Black put an exclamation point on the win with his second homer of the day.

On Saturday, the Lions returned home for their final two games of the season with a 2-0 advantage in the series against Penn. In game one, the Quakers opened up an early two run lead before the Lions struck back in the bottom of the third when Pizzano grounded a single to plate senior Mark Heil. Penn tallied two more runs in the fifth against Columbia starter David Speer before the Lions rallied in the bottom of the inning. With one out and the bases loaded, Ferraresi ripped the first pitch into right-center field for a three-run triple that leveled the game at four. Black followed with a groundout RBI to score Ferraresi and put the Lions up 5-4. Penn rallied, however, with a run in the sixth and then three more in the seventh to win the game 8-5. In game two, Columbia got on the board first with three runs in the opening inning after Pizzano smacked an RBI double to plate Eisen, and Aurrichio and Cabreja followed with two RBI groundouts. The Lions added five more in the second, starting with an RBI single from Eisen and an RBI groundout by Rumpke. Aurrichio then stepped to the plate for an absurd 15-pitch at-bat, including 10 foul balls before he was walked. Cabreja followed with two-run scoring single before freshman Gus Craig added an RBI single to make it an 8-0 game. In the fifth, Rumpke ripped a two-run double and added another run in the seventh with an RBI triple to put the Lions up 11-0. Starter Stefan Olsen was relieved in the seventh after allowing just three hits and striking out nine. The Lions ended the season with an emphatic 11-1 win and tallying their 12th Ivy League victory of the season.

Columbia ended the season at 21-24 and 12-8 in the Ivy League, which marks the second 20-win season and second Ivy League winning season in the last three years. Congratulations to seniors Jon Eisen, Billy Rumpke, Harrison Slutzky, Anthony Potter, Zach Epstein, Mark Heil, Alex Aurrichio, and Pat Lowery, who were honored before their final game on Robertson Field at Satow Stadium.

Softball (12-33, 6-14 Ivy League):

Results:

Penn (Game 1) 1-5 (L)
Penn (Game 2) 1-9 (L)
Penn (Game 1) 2-8 (L)
Penn (Game 2) 1-11 (L)

Highlights: The Softball team also faced Penn this weekend for four game series to conclude 2012 Ivy League play. In game one on Friday, junior Christie Taylor opened scoring for the Lions with a solo home run in the second inning to put Columbia up 1-0. The Quakers answered in the third with two runs to take the lead over the Lions 2-1. In the fifth, Penn added another run with an RBI single up the middle, and then made it a 4-1 game in the sixth with a solo home run. The Quakers tallied one more in the sixth to take a 5-1 advantage over the Lions and went on to win the opener by that margin. In game two, Penn continued to dominate the scoreboard with four runs in the second. The Lions were unable to stop the Quakers offense as they went on to tally four more runs in the third after an error allowed two runs to score and a 2-RBI single made it a 8-0 game. Penn scored another in the fourth before the Lions finally got on the board in the fifth when sophomore Emily Snodgrass smacked one to right field to plate Taylor.

After dropping the opening two games of the series, the Lions returned home for their final Ivy League doubleheader of the season. In game one, Penn took an early 1-0 lead in the first, but Columbia answered in the bottom of the inning when freshman Alix Cook ripped an RBI double to right center to drive in sophomore Emily Caruthers. With the game tied 1-1, the Quakers came out swinging in the second, scoring five runs to give them a 6-1 advantage. The Lions got one run back in the bottom of the third after sophomore Tristan Moone’s RBI singled plated Cook. Penn ended the scoring with a two-run homer in the fourth to capture their third straight against the Lions. The Quakers continued with their relentless offense in game two, building a 3-0 advantage in the first inning. Penn added two more in the second before Columbia got on the board in the bottom of the inning. Moone doubled to right center to advance Alex O’Hagan to third, and then O’Hagan scored on a wild pitch. The Quakers, however, were in the driver’s seat from there, scoring six more runs before taking the series 4-0 from the Lions.

Up Next: The Lions finish the 2012 season at home on Tuesday with a doubleheader against Manhattan starting at 1:30 pm.

Track and Field:

Results:

The Lions had a number of outstanding performances in the 118th Penn Relays

Highlights: At the 118th Penn Relays at Franklin Field, the Columbia Men’s 4x800m team of freshman Connor Clafin, freshman Brendon Fish, junior Liam Tansey, and sophomore Harrison McFann broke a 20 year old Ivy League record with a time of 7:20.80. The record-breaking time was good enough for 3rd place in the College Men’s 4x800m Championship of America. The Lions also had a standout  performance in the College Men’s 4xMile Championship of America, where the squad of senior Adam Behnke, freshman Daniel Everett, junior Mark Feigen, and senior Kyle Merber took second place with a time of 16:17.86. Columbia’s women’s 4×800 squad followed with a seventh place finish and the Lions men’s distance medley relay took fifth.

Up Next: The Track & Field squads will compete in the 2012 Heptagonal Outdoor Championships next weekend at Penn.

Women’s Golf:

Results:

Piyapattra tied for second in Ivy League Championship; Team sits at fourth

Highlights: After two days of golf, sophomore Michelle Piyapattra was tied for second place at the Ivy League Women’s Golf Championship at Seaview Golf Resort’s Bay course in Galloway, NJ. Piyapattra improved by seven strokes from the first round, bolstering her to a second place standing at 3-over 153. As a team, the Lions enjoyed a 27-stroke improvement on Saturday and sat at fourth place overall after day two at 81-over 649. Senior Lynda Kwon improved the most on day two, 11 strokes better than her opening day putting her in a tie for 13th place. The Lions tee off today for the final round of golf to decide the Ivy League Champion.

Men’s Golf:

Results:

Men’s Golf in Second at Ivy League Championships

Highlights: The Lions shot a 296 in the second round of the Ivy League Championships at Galloway National Golf Club to hold on to their second place standing from day one. As the team sits just four strokes behind Dartmouth, junior Michael Yiu is tied for second at 7-over 149. The Lions are the only team with four players in the top 11, with Yiu in second, sophomores Andrew Kim and Jordan Lee tied for fifth, and senior Brendan Doyle tied for 11th.