Bulldogs lose Game 1, must win 2 games today

WEST HAVEN — Losing the opening game of an abbreviated winner-take-all series is a tough enough challenge for a baseball team.

Top-seeded Yale, after losing a 4-0 decision to Columbia in the best-of-3 Ivy League Championship Series on Tuesday afternoon at Yale Field, must win twice Wednesday to earn the league’s automatic NCAA tournament bid.

To complicate matters, the Bulldogs will need to do it without Tim DeGraw, their speedy center fielder and leadoff hitter.

DeGraw fell to the turf in agony while chasing down a fly ball to center field in the third inning, and remained there for several minutes before being helped off the field. Yale coach John Stuper didn’t know the specific nature of the injury immediately after the game, but expects it’s a season-ender.

“They were worried it could be an ACL tear or a broken bone,” Stuper said. “It’s a big loss. He’s the guy who ignites us and a great center fielder. Injuries happen in baseball. We have to try and overcome it, simple as that.”

Rain postponed the second game of a scheduled doubleheader to Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. The third game, if necessary, will be played 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 2.

Yale (22-20) will use the extra time off to find its hitting. The Bulldogs scored a total of one run in losing the final two games of the regular season to Penn and were shutout for the second time in three games.

Columbia ace Harrisen Egly (3-3) tossed seven scoreless innings, walking two and striking out six. Ty Wiest completed the shutout with two innings of no-hit ball.

Egly, a 6-foot-5 senior, spent two seasons as the Lions’ closer but battled arm injuries last season. He’s been at his best in the second half of the season, allowing one run in 7.2 innings against Cornell last week that kept Columbia’s season alive.

“He’s been building to this for several starts in a row,” Columbia coach Brett Boretti said. “He’s a guy who’s been in these tight situations before and stepped up.”

Egly labored through a 28-pitch first inning, allowing a two-out single to Yale’s Benny Wanger. He balked Wanger to second and then walked Griffen Dey. He got out of the jam by inducing Alex Stiegler to fly out, and was in command the rest of the way.

“There was a lot of energy early on and I was a little antsy with the balk and everything else,” Egly said. “I wasn’t controlling what I needed to control. They do a good job of battling off pitches so I knew there would be some innings I’d need to bear down and finish. By the end, I knew our defense would make plays so I wouldn’t have to do anything special.”

Yale threatened in the fourth and fifth innings, but stranded runners in scoring position both times.