April 1, 2006

Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Eric Rasmussen (Brewster, Mass.) and Justin Ankney (Ft. Myers, Fla.) each collected four hits and Marc Sawyer (Largo, Fla.) extended his hitting streak to 11 games as Yale (12-10, 1-1 Ivy) split an Ivy League twin bill with Columbia (5-18, 3-3 Ivy) on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs took the first game 6-4 before falling in the night cap 9-7.

Senior Alec Smith (Turlock, Calif.) took the ball in game one for Yale and cruised through the first four innings as his team spotted him a 3-0 lead.

Jake Doyle (Wilmington, Del.) opened the scoring with an RBI single in the second inning taking advantage of a two-base error from Lions left fielder Mike Malfettone. He misplayed a Sawyer base hit which allowed him to advance to third.

The Bulldogs tacked on two more in the fifth inning on RBIs from Ankney and Sawyer.

Smith, however, couldn't hold the lead in the bottom of the frame as the Lions rallied for four runs of the Eli ace to knock him out of the game. Lefty Adam Barrick (Freeport, N.Y.) was forced into the game to get the last out of the inning, stranding runners at the corners.

The Columbia lead was short lived as the Bulldog hitters strung together three consecutive two-out hits and took advantage of another error to score twice more in the sixth.

Rasmussen started the rally with a double to left center and he was followed by base hits from Pedro Obregon (Miami, Fla.) and Josh Cox (Gainesville, Fla.), the latter driving in a run.

A Mike Roberts error allowed a second run to score to give the Bulldogs the lead.

Matt Fealey (Queens, N.Y.) came on for the final two innings to earn the save.

Errors hurt Yale in game two, as Columbia countered a first inning Ankney home run with four un-earned runs in the bottom of the frame to take a 4-1 lead off southpaw Mike Mongiardini (Toms River, N.J.).

Yale did put up single runs in both the second and third courtesy of a Charles Bush (Jackson, Miss.) home run and a Doyle sacrifice fly to pull within one at 4-3.

The Lions scored in the fourth before taking a commanding lead in the fifth with their second four-run inning of the game, knocking out Mongiardini. The Bulldogs didn't get out of the inning until John Henry Davis (Southbridge, Mass.) induced an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play. By that point the Columbia lead stood at 9-3.

Davis would remain on the hill for the duration, keeping the Bulldogs in the game with three and two thirds scoreless innings.

The Bulldog offense attempted to rally, scoring twice in the sixth and once in both the seventh and eight to close to within two, but they could get no closer as Andrew Walther held on to pick up the save.

Yale returns to action on Sunday afternoon with a pair of games at Penn. First pitch in game one is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. The game will be carried live on WYBC 1340 and online at www.WYBC.com

Report Filed By Hank Gargiulo, Yale Sports Publicity