CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) – Robb Paller drove in three runs and Columbia overcame an early two-run deficit to beat Florida International 4-3 on Sunday in an NCAA regional elimination game.
Columbia (32-16), the first Ivy League team to win two regional games since Harvard in 1998, must Miami (46-14) on Saturday night to force a championship game Monday night.
FIU (30-31) took a 2-0 lead on Josh Anderson’s sacrifice fly in the first inning and Zack Soria’s RBI single to right center in the second.
Paller tied it in the third with a double down the left-field line that scored Will Savage and Jordan Serena. Columbia added two runs in the fifth on Paller’s RBI single to right, and then an error.
FIU loaded the bases with one out in the eighth, but managed just one run. Adam Cline replaced fellow righty reliever Harrisen Egly on the mound and gave up a sacrifice fly to center to Austin Rodriguez before getting a force-out. Cline retired the top of FIU’s lineup in order in the ninth.
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