Gus Craig, Hitting Machine

This was an exciting weekend for the Lions and especially for the baseball team, who has been ardently fighting the good fight against Penn.  Catch up with them and the rest your favorite teams with Bwog baseball buff Max Rettig.

Baseball: The Lions had quite the interesting weekend. Entering Friday’s double-header at Penn, they were tied with the Quakers for the Ivy League lead at 13-3. On Friday, Speer (5-2, 53 K) notched his second straight shutout win in Columbia’s 6-0 victory, extending the Lions’ record win streak to 15 games, while Penn’s bats came alive for a 12-4 rout in the latter game. Thus, the Gehrig Division title competition remained deadlocked between the NJ Turnpike rivals. Gus Craig had a great day at the plate, including a double and several RBI singles.

Friday then became Saturday, and the Lions came back home to host Penn in another two-game set, which both teams hoped would determine the conference title in their respective favor. The Lions and the Quakers would each need to sweep the twin bill to claim their trophy. Kevin Roy fired the first pitch of Saturday’s early game and went on to last an impressive 5.2 innings, with five hits and four strikeouts on his line. However, two earned runs, and three runs overall, proved too much for Columbia to overcome. Penn’s Ronnie Glenn threw his first complete game of the season, and induced a ground-out to first base to end Columbia’s courageous comeback attempt.

Penn had the series edge and the momentum, heading into the last game of the regular season.

Pitching the late game, Joey Donino enjoyed a stellar outing (5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 6 K). It was Gus Craig, though, who led the charge to salvage Columbia’s season; his two hits gave him nine for the four games, but his two-run double in the 4th inning set the tone for the Lions. With the helpful relief of Adam Cline and Mike Weisman, Columbia earned the 5-2 win and forced a one-game playoff to decide the Ivy League title.

The best thing about baseball is that one team always comes away with the win, no matter how long it takes. That is the case for every game, and it is the case for this now-prolonged season.

The Lions honored their five departing seniors on Saturday, including Speer. The playoff contest is scheduled for Saturday (5/3) at Penn, and the winner goes on to represent the Gehrig Division in the Ivy League Championship Series.

Softball ended its regular season on Saturday, saying goodbye to two seniors, but sending them off on a happier note after splitting the final double-header of the season. Penn won the first three games of the series, meaning that they will go on to win the Ivy title, but the Lions salvaged the last game of the series and 2014 season.

Golf won the Ivy League crown for the fourth time in seven years, and fifth time overall, by 12 strokes over Yale. Brandon Jowers turned in a strong performance at the tee, earning himself Ivy League Player of the Year and first-team All-Ivy honors. Congrats on being “sub-par!” The team awaits its NCAA regional selection on May 5th.

Track and Field broke several Columbia records at the Penn Relays, including the program record in women’s 4x1500m (17:56.59), women’s 4x200m (1:35.96) and men’s distance medley (9:37.67). Senior Harrison McFann posted an individual program record of 1:46.93 in the 800m portion.

In other news, Athletics is having a fundraiser at Fairway on 130th and 12th Ave. on Wednesday. Go restock on Red Bull, finals snacks and EasyMac while supporting your sports teams. Fairway contributes 25% of each receipt from 4-9 pm. Yay for mutual benefit!

Looking determined via Columbia University Athletics/Gene Boyars