Columbia isn’t just happy to be in the NCAA baseball tournament anymore. The Lions are intent on doing damage.
The NCAA’s seeding committee has recognized the Ivy League school’s emergence under eighth-year coach Brett Boretti. Columbia received a three-seed in the Coral Gables Regionals, a high number for a mid-major and a first for the Manhattan-based program.
“Surprised isn’t the right word. We’re excited. It’s definitely significant for us and for our league,” Boretti said. “It says something about the teams in our league and the schedules that each of us are trying to play.
“It shows that if you do step up your schedule and you have some success, you get rewarded.”
In the NCAA tournament for the second straight year and third time in six seasons after a 32-year drought, Columbia will meet No. 2 Texas Tech Friday at 2 p.m. while No. 1 Miami, a traditional powerhouse, meets fourth-seeded Bethune-Cookman in the other game of the double-elimination regional.
Columbia’s odds of reaching the postseason were long in early April, before the Lions went on a huge run to close the regular season, winning 15 games in a row and 21-of-24 to set a program record with 29 wins. That hot streak included winning a play-in game over Penn to reach the Ivy League Championship Series, where Columbia (29-18) swept Dartmouth.
Senior southpaw David Speer, the Ivy League pitcher of the year, has keyed the surge. Speer, one of a program-record 11 Columbia players to receive all-league honors, tossed a five-hit shutout in the play-in win and threw six complete games with a a microscopic 1.86 ERA while walking just seven in 80 innings.
Second baseman Will Savage, the Ivy’s rookie of the year from The Bronx, hit a league-best .338, and redshirt sophomore outfielder Robb Paller, from Brooklyn, has rebounded from missing a year following major knee surgery to boost the middle of the order.
“We’re a seasoned, veteran group. We have pitching potential to do well in a four-team tournament,” Boretti said. “Obviously, we’re going to be facing some really good teams. We got our hands full, no doubt about it.”
The top eight seeds were given, in order, to Oregon State, Florida, Virginia, Indiana, Florida State, Louisiana-Lafayette, TCU and LSU.