After retaining its first-place position in the Gehrig Division this past weekend, the Columbia baseball team hosted Fordham Wednesday afternoon in a nonconference tune-up to prepare for this weekend’s matchup with Cornell. The Lions split the doubleheader with the Rams, bringing their overall season record to 13-21.

Columbia took a tough loss in game one, falling 9-8 in eight innings. Lions starter Matt

Berninger pitched two effective innings, giving up no earned runs, and was lifted in the third with a 7-1 lead. But problems would follow as reliever Dan Bracey gave up three earned runs in each of the two innings he pitched, squandering the lead and leaving the score tied at 7-7. Head coach Brett Boretti clearly used this game to warm up his pitching staff, as he used five hurlers in eight innings.

Though the Lions scored in the bottom of the fourth to take a one-run lead, the Rams would come back again, scoring the equalizer in the sixth. Both teams were held scoreless in the seventh, sending the game into extra innings.

Fordham led off the top of the eighth with third baseman Joe Russo drawing a walk off of Clay Bartlett in his third inning of work. After Mike Mobbs pinch ran for Russo and advanced to second on a groundout, Max Lautmann came in to relieve Bartlett. The first batter he faced was center fielder Danny Leach, who tripled to left field and drove in the eventual winning run. Fordham pitcher Ryan Sheflott rounded out his stellar outing with his fifth inning of shutout ball to pick up his second win of the season.

The second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader would produce a much more favorable result for the Lions, who received an outstanding effort from their staff. Columbia’s squad of Henry Perkins, Lautmann, Roger Aquino, and Joey Mizzoni combined to surrender just one run on four hits in nine innings. Perkins got the ball rolling, pitching three innings of shutout, two-hit ball.

Offensively, Columbia started the game right, with Nick Cox doubling to right field to lead off the first. After Noah Cooper flied out, Cox stole third with Perkins at the plate.

He would complete his trip around the bases on Ron Williams’ two-out RBI double down the left field line. The Lions added another run in the third after Rams starting pitcher John Flanagan hit Chris Meininger to lead off the inning. Meininger stole third, setting up Cooper with a runner in scoring position and one out following a Cox groundout. Cooper came through with an RBI single up the middle, giving Columbia a 2-0 lead.

Fordham’s only run of the game would come in the fifth inning off of Lautmann. In his second inning of work, the reliever surrendered a run on a double, a hit by pitch, and an RBI single by Leach that set up a runner on second with one out. After a big strikeout of Eric Reese, Lautmann got the next batter to ground into a fielder’s choice, and the Lions held on for a 2-1 victory.

Columbia will await its upcoming matchup at Cornell with a little momentum on its side. It will be the penultimate series against an Ancient Eight opponent, with the regular season ending the following week against Penn.