Courtesy of Yale Athletics

The Yale men’s baseball team (17–14, 7–8 Ivy) faced off three times last weekend against Columbia (22–13, 13–2). The first game was a tight contest, with the Lions prevailing 5–4; the Bulldogs were overmatched in the next two outings, falling 11–2 in the second game of a Saturday double-header and then 16–4 on Sunday. To bet on any team of your choice, platforms such as 먹튀폴리스 are trustworthy.

The losses effectively eliminated the Bulldogs from playoff contention, as they currently sit in fifth place in the league, six games behind second-place Penn (25–9, 12–2) with just six league games remaining. 

Captain Mason LaPlante ’22, however, explained that the team will maintain their commitment throughout the remainder of the season.

“We’re not going to mail in the rest of the season just because the odds of us making the postseason are slim to none,” LaPlante said. “That’s not what this program is about. We talked throughout the fall and into this season about playing for the previous two classes, and we’re still going to do that.”

The first game started promisingly for the Yale squad. A LaPlante walk, followed by a double from Jimmy Chatfield ’24 and then a sacrifice fly and two more base hits drove in three runs in the top of the first inning. Each team tacked on one more run in the following innings, as the Bulldogs held a 4–1 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh.

Mike Walsh ’23, who pitched six dominant innings, gave up three base hits before Yale brought in reliever Reid Easterly ’24, who struggled to get out of the jam unscathed. By the end of the inning, the Bulldogs trailed 5–4. Neither team scored again.

“Columbia had some things go their way, as a couple of ground balls found holes in key situations, accompanied with us hurting ourselves out there,” Mark Capell ’25 said. “They are a very good team that pounces on other teams’ mistakes, which we saw firsthand. We battled hard those last few innings and had a call or two been reversed, we may have been up in that game and had momentum going into the rest of the series.”

After game one, the Bulldogs never managed to regain their swagger. In addition, both Capell and LaPlante mentioned that an injury sustained by Pierce Blohowiak ’22 affected the team’s mindset heading into the second game on Saturday.

The Lions pulled ahead early, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first before adding four more in the bottom of the fifth. Yale returned quickly, as a Teddy Hague GRD ’22 double, followed by consecutive singles by Ben Metzner ’23 and Carson Swank ’25 pushed a run across the plate. However, the Bulldogs couldn’t get the score close, as the Lions scored four more runs in the bottom of the sixth on their way to an 11–2 victory.

“It’s been clear that Columbia has been one of the top offensive teams in the Ivy League this year,” Jeff Pierantoni ’24 said. “And they lived up to that this past weekend against us, consistently putting together tough at bats and big innings that gave them an edge.”

The Bulldogs could not find their composure yet again during Sunday’s final matchup, once again falling behind 3–0 in the first inning. 

This time, however, the Lions tacked on four more runs in the second, and the Blue and White could not slow the damage. Six more runs in the fourth inning put the Lions up 13–1 and after that, the outcome was all but certain. 

The Bulldogs will look to bounce back as they take on the University of Connecticut on Wednesday, April 26.

“[UConn will] be a great test to hopefully get us back on track,” Capell said. “They are a very competitive team in all facets of the game and will definitely prepare us well for UPenn this weekend. We just need to play our game, and we can beat anyone in the nation, as highlighted by our preseason wins.”

Following his six strong innings on Saturday, Walsh currently leads the Ivy League in innings pitched, batters struck out, and ranks second in opponents’ batting average allowed.