April 9, 2007

Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score | Photo Gallery

NEW HAVEN, Conn.--With two out and nobody on in the bottom of the ninth, Yale rallied for the game-winning run to secure a doubleheader sweep of Columbia at Yale Field on Monday afternoon. After the Lions got two quick outs, Ryan Lavarnway belted the first triple of his career to put the winning run on third for Marc Sawyer. Sawyer was intentionally walked, bringing Charles Bush to the plate. Daniel Bagjer (1-5) dealt a wild pitch while facing Bush, and Lavarnway came across with the winning run, giving the Bulldogs (9-18, 3-5 Ivy) a 10-9 victory and their first doubleheader sweep of the season. Yale took the first game 6-3.

The wind was blowing out, and the Bulldogs took full advantage, belting four home runs in game two, including three in the first two innings. Yale built a 6-0 lead on the strength of the three blasts. Justin Ankney smacked a solo shot in the first, and Pedro Obregon led off the second inning with his fifth home run of the year. Later in the inning, two walks and an error loaded the bases for Lavarnway, who smashed a towering grand slam to left field.

Columbia (10-18-1, 5-7 Ivy) also used the long ball to get back in it. After the first two batters reached in the third, Jason Banos belted a three-run jack that cut Yale's lead in half. The Lions made it 6-5 in the fourth on two unearned runs.

The Bulldogs came right back to open up a 9-5 edge in their half of the fourth. Josh Cox tripled leading off the inning, and scored on Ankney's single. After Lavarway flied to center, Sawyer turned on a pitch and deposited it over the right field fence. Andrew Ward's fifth-inning homer made it 9-6, and Columbia tied the game with three in the top of the sixth.

The pitchers took over from there. Columbia's John Baumann didn't allow a hit after the Sawyer home run and retired 12 of the final 13 batters he faced. Baumann went eight innings, yielding seven hits. Stefan Schropp worked in and out of trouble, but managed to give the Bulldogs seven strong innings. Brian Irving (1-4) relieved Schropp in the eighth and didn't surrender a hit, facing the minimum in two innings of work to earn his first win of the year.

Ankney and Lavarnway had two hits in game two, including a home run each. Lavarnway had four RBIs and two runs, including the game-winner, while Ankney scored three times and drove in two.

Banos went 3-for-5 with five RBIs and two runs, as the Lions out-hit the Bulldogs 11-8. Ward and Noah Cooper also had two hits, while Dean Forthun scored three times in the second game.

In game one, Yale built a 3-0 lead on the strength of single runs in each of the first three innings. Ankney singled, moved to second on Lavarnway's groundout, and scored on Sawyer's single in the first. Trygg Larsson-Danforth came across on Dan Soltman's RBI single in the second, and Bush whacked an RBI double to wall in left-center in the third inning.

The Lions got two runs back in the top of the fifth, but the Bulldogs countered with a three-spot in the bottom half of the inning. Cox doubled, then traded places with Ankney. Ankney scored on Lavarnway's single up the middle. With two outs, Obregon belted Yale's third double of the inning, scoring Lavarnway to make it 6-2.

Columbia scored again in the top of the sixth, but Brandon Josselyn (2-2) was excellent on the mound for the Bulldogs. Josselyn scattered seven hits and struck out three while not walking anybody in a complete game effort.

Henry Perkins (1-5) took the loss after yielding six earned runs and 10 hits in 4.2 innings. Perkins struck out five Bulldogs.

Yale out-hit Columbia 10-7 in the first game, as Ankney and Lavarnway each had two hits. They both added an RBI and scored twice.

Mike Roberts was the only Columbia player with a multi-hit game in game one, going 2-for-3.

Yale is right back in action on Tuseday, wrapping up a six-game homestand against Sacred Heart (9-15). The Bulldogs face the Pioneers in a doubleheader starting at 3:30 p.m. at Yale Field.

Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity