After starting the season with a 2-6 record, the Princeton baseball team (5-7 overall) was in need of victories heading into a four-game stretch against Georgetown (10-10 overall) last week. Despite a 10th-inning loss to the Hoyas on Thursday, the Tigers ultimately proved their dominance and agility with three victories on Friday and Sunday.
Prior to Georgetown, Princeton traveled down south for a five-game trip through Richmond and Norfolk, Va. at the beginning of spring break. In the process, the Tigers took on the likes of Penn State, New York City College of Technology, University of Richmond and Old Dominion University. The southern road trip produced mixed results as Princeton defeated Penn State and Richmond but fell to the other teams.
To cap off a long spring break, the Tigers took on Georgetown for four games on the swing back north. The Hoyas are a rare foe for Princeton, as the Orange and Black last faced Georgetown in 2013, when team captains Danny Hoy and Billy Arendt were just freshman. Though the Tigers finished with a relatively successful 14-28 season record that year, Georgetown swept Princeton in the season series.
During much of the first game on Thursday, it looked like history would repeat itself. By the ninth inning, the Tigers were still down 3-1. Yet, senior infielder Danny Hoy had a different plans. The veteran captain hit his 13th career home run to begin the inning. The Tigers then strategically loaded all of the bases until freshman Max Machiorlette earned a walk to tie the game. Unfortunately, the Orange and Black’s luck ran dry in the extra inning when the Hoyas scored a single run to capture the game.
Due to inclement weather, Princeton and Georgetown scheduled a doubleheader on Friday for the second and third games. The first of the two games began with an ominous reminder of the previous day. By the ninth inning, the Tigers had yet to score while the Hoyas had already accumulated three runs. Then, in the final out of the inning, junior outfielder Paul Tupper hit a home run with two runners on base to tie the game. The Tigers then blew the Hoyas away with four more runs in the 10th inning, winning 7-3.
The Orange and Black’s success continued later on Friday when the Tigers accumulated a 7-0 lead halfway through the seventh inning. Senior pitcher and captain Cameron Mingo held the Hoyas down for six innings with just three hits in the process. The Hoyas scored four of their own runs in the bottom of the seventh, but the Tigers held Georgetown scoreless in the final innings of the game, and added one more run of their own in the eighth inning to capture a 8-4 victory.
After rotating through eight different pitchers in the first three games against Georgetown, Princeton head coach Scott Bradley chose junior pitcher Chad Powers to control the mound on Sunday. Powers proved successful as the California native earned his second career shutout. Meanwhile, the Tigers scored off a two-run home run by Joseph Flynn in the second inning and two runs in the fourth to close off Georgetown by a score of 4-0.
Just one more weekend stands between Princeton and the start of the Ivy League portion of the season. This upcoming Saturday, the Tigers will travel south again to compete in three games against the Naval Academy.
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