The Lions outscored the Crimson 30–16 in the first two games of their three-game series. 

Columbia (17-13) keeps itself at the top of the Ivy League table (9-2) with a pair of Saturday wins against Harvard (13-15). Thanks to excellent all-around offense on top of nine home runs across two games, the Lions swiftly dealt with the Crimson. The University of Pennsylvania (21-9) currently sits second in the Ivy League (8-2) with a game in hand, making these games critical to keeping Columbia’s Ivy League Championship hopes alive.

Game One:

A first inning two-run homer from Andy Blake (CC ‘23) helped the Lions start their morning game off strong. Tyler MacGregor (CC ‘22) then took advantage of a wild pick-off attempt and Hayden Schott (CC ‘23) followed up with an RBI double, sending Weston Eberly (CC ‘23) home to score the Lions’ fourth run of the inning. Schott reached home just before a two-run home run from Joshua Solomon (SEAS ‘22) that ended Columbia’s first inning score fest. Harvard errors and poor pitching helped the Lions to a 12-1 lead at the end of the second inning. Taking a Harvard two-run homer in stride in the top of the third, Columbia bounced back with a Cole Hage (CC ‘24) solo homer and a Schott two-run homer. The Crimson took advantage of the fourth and fifth innings, bringing their score within five of the Lions and ended the top of the fifth down 10-15. Columbia responded in the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings, sending MacGregor and Eberly home twice in two innings and Hage and Blake home once each to make it 10-21 in favor of the Lions. In a ninth inning last-ditch effort, the Crimson hit a two-run homer to center field to end the game 10-21 and give Columbia its first win of the day.

Game Two: 

A terrific seven-inning, seven strikeout pitching performance from Joe Sheets (CC ‘25) kept Harvard at bay while the Lions racked up runs on the scoreboard. Harvard’s third and fifth pitch of the game led to homers from Hage and Blake, putting the Lions up 2-0. Schott hit his second  home run of the day to give the Lions a 3-0 lead at the end of the third. Harvard pulled their pitcher only to substitute another who would throw his first four pitches outside of the strike zone and allowed Jacob Phelps (CC ‘22) to steal three bases including home on wild pitches. Schott hit his third home run of the day, making the score 6-0. After two stagnant scoring innings, Columbia picked up play quickly and a Solomon three-run homer made the score 9-0. After Sheets was pulled at the end of the seventh, a shoddy relief pitching performance in the eighth nearly allowed the Crimson to come back from a 9-0 deficit. Luckily, Harvard was held to just four runs in the eighth and excellent Columbia defense in the ninth helped close the game in favor of the Lions. 

Columbia’s next series will be at home against Yale. The series opener will be at 11:30 am on Saturday, April 23, where the Lions will fight to keep their championship hopes alive. 

Hayden Schott (CC ’23) via Columbia Baseball on Twitter