Summer 2015
Roar, Lion, Roar
Baseball Three-Peats, Wins Record 34 Games
Columbia baseball won the Ivy League Championship for the third consecutive year in 2015 and compiled a 34–17 record, the 34 wins being the most in program history, breaking the mark of 29 set a year ago. The Lions capped their memorable season by winning three games in the NCAA Regional, the first Ivy League team to post three NCAA Tournament victories since Harvard in 1974.
Outfielder Gus Craig SEAS’15, who batted .403 in Ivy League action with 22 runs, four homers and 18 RBI, was named Co-Player of the Year, sharing the honor with Penn catcher Austin Bossert. Randell Kanemaru ’18, who batted .306 and compiled a .411 on-base percentage, was chosen Rookie of the Year. They also were among 11 Lions to earn All-Ivy status.
Brett Boretti received the inaugural Ivy Coach of the Year award for baseball after leading the Lions to the Ivy title for the fourth time in his 10 seasons at Columbia. He won his 200th game in Columbia blue at Brown on April 6.
Columbia beat Penn 4–2 in a one-game playoff on May 2 to win the Gehrig Division crown, after beating the Quakers 8–6 in 10 innings in the second game of a doubleheader on April 26 to force the playoff. Boyher’s solo home run in the seventh inning snapped a 2–2 tie, while Serena and Vandercook also hit solo home runs and Craig had a sacrifice fly for the other Columbia runs. Thanopoulos and Kevin Roy ’16 limited Penn to six hits to pitch the Lions into the best-of-three championship series against Dartmouth at Robertson Field at Satow Stadium.
The teams split the opening doubleheader on May 9. Dartmouth won the first game by building a 7–1 advantage and hanging on for a 7–6 victory but Columbia stayed alive by taking the nightcap 7–2 as Falcone drove in three runs and Maguire hit a two-run homer. That set up a wild deciding game in which Columbia got four home runs from three players to defeat Dartmouth 10–7 and become the first Ivy team to three-peat since Harvard won three in a row from 1997–99. Falcone belted a two-run home run in the first inning and a three-run homer in the second to stake the Lions to a 6–1 lead, and although the Big Green twice pulled within two runs, homers by Boyher and Vandercook kept Columbia in front.
“It’s an incredible feeling,” said Egly, who came on in relief in the fifth inning and limited Dartmouth to just one run the rest of the way to earn the victory. “We wanted this all year, and it’s great to finally have gotten it.”
The victory gave Columbia a berth in the NCAA Regional in Coral Gables, Fla., where it began play with a 6–3 upset of East Carolina. Following an 8–3 loss to Miami, the sixth-ranked team in the nation, the Lions — their backs to the wall in the double-elimination tournament — bounced back to edge Florida International 4–3 and then stunned Miami 3–0, allowing only two hits and handing the Hurricanes their first shutout of the season. That set up a third game against Miami, with the winner advancing to the NCAA Super Regional, and this time it was Miami that bounced backed as the Hurricanes scored four runs in the first inning and eight more in the fourth en route to a 21–3 victory that ended Columbia’s season.