Baseball faces challenge in next 11 games

For Columbia students, spring break is a glorious respite from endless amounts of busywork. But to the Columbia baseball team, the vacation presents a rigorous 11-game road trip through the South.

The Lions opened their season last week in Sin City by dropping three out of four games to UNLV. After leading in the first three contests, Columbia coughed up three straight victories to the Rebels before closing out the fourth game with a score of 8-6.

The most devastating loss occurred in the third game, in which Columbia led 12-4 after seven innings. With two men out, Lions relief pitchers failed to retire the final batter in the eighth, and UNLV posted a remarkable eight runs.

Columbia looks to improve its play in late-game situations starting this weekend, when the road trip begins. The Lions open play with a three-game weekend set against the Richmond Spiders in Virginia. Already 10 games into their season, Richmond is coming off a sweep of Lafayette last weekend at home.

The Lions will continue their trip with a stop in Blacksburg to play Virginia Tech before crossing into North Carolina for a mid-week series against Appalachian State. The teams are scheduled to play two matinees on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Continuing the trek to the South, the Light Blue will participate in the Winthrop University Coca-Cola Classic Tournament next weekend. At the moment, Columbia will face at least four different opponents in South Carolina before returning to campus.

The Lions will play Winthrop twice and both Kent State and Penn State once, with the possibility of a fifth game on Sunday if favorable results are achieved. The team wraps up its road trip with a classic matchup against local rival St. John’s before hosting its home opener at Robertson Field on March 27.

Among the Lions who are off to fast starts are Nick Ferraresi and Alex Ferrera. Ferraresi, a freshman, leads his teammates with seven hits and a .500 batting average after the first four games. The outfielder also hit his first home run, one of five extra base hits, and has already driven in six men.

Ferrera also homered in Las Vegas and possesses a .333 average at this point in the season. Columbia was also happy to see junior Jason Banos return to the lineup after missing last season with an injury.

Banos struggled at the plate last weekend, but still managed to provide five RBI on two hits. The outfielder was particularly sharp in clutch situations, evoking memories of his standout freshman season. Banos is an important player to watch over the next 10 days, and the team’s fortunes lie partly in his offensive production.

Columbia’s pitching staff will get more exposure to solid hitters next week as well. The starting pitchers especially struggled last weekend, and only freshman Stefan Olson had a solid outing. Olson threw six innings, allowing four runs while striking out six batters. The team’s overall ERA floats at 9.62, and the Lions will certainly have to sink those numbers to be competitive in the Ivy League.

The next 11 games will give head coach Brett Boretti an extended look at his roster. By facing superior opponents, the team hopes to prepare its players to capture the Ivy League title that eluded them last season.