One was the prize recruit in two sports. The other made the team as a walk-on. Both are members of the Class of 2002. And on Saturday afternoon against Yale, in New Haven, Conn., both were dominant on the mound for the baseball team.
In his first full game since the end of the basketball season, sophomore Chris Young pitched a complete-game 9-0 victory. Classmate Tom Rowland followed up with a gem of his own, a 6-1 win over the Elis.
Together, the pair allowed only six hits and gave up no walks.
The Tigers' sweep of Yale evened their Ivy League record at 3-3 and boosted their overall mark to 9-12. And the complete games pitched by Young and Rowland gave some much-needed rest to a depleted pitching staff.
Young owned the first game against the Elis. He tied a career high with 10 strikeouts and had a no-hitter through 5.2 innings before center fielder Chris Elkins singled to left field. It would be the only hit Yale would get in the game as Young went the distance for the complete-game shutout.
The previous weekend against Dartmouth, Young had struck out seven in four innings of work. That day he was on a limited pitch count, having only recently rejoined the team after basketball season.
Double duty
But even during the winter, when Princeton sports fans are focused on Young's work in the paint, at least some of his attention goes to his preparations for the mound. Young throws a few times a week so that when baseball season rolls around, he is physically prepared to pitch.
During the off-season, though, Young is not throwing to live batters. Mentally, figuring out the switch to live game competition could be a major hurdle for most pitchers. But according to head coach Scott Bradley, this is not a problem for Young.
"He has as good an athletic makeup as any person I've ever been around," Bradley said. "In terms of figuring things out and getting things done he's very, very good."
In the first game at Yale (8-20, 0-6), Young certainly figured the Eli batters out. And when the Tigers busted loose with a six-run seventh inning, the game turned into a rout.
Junior outfielder Mickey Martin started off the inning by reaching base on a throwing error by third baseman Mike Hirschfield. Yale committed six errors in the game that led to four unearned Princeton runs. Martin scored on a single by junior outfielder Jon Watterson, who was the only Tiger with more than one hit in the game. Watterson, who had six hits last weekend, continues to produce for Princeton at the leadoff spot. He had two RBI in game one.
After the offensive barrage in the top half of the seventh inning, Young closed the book on the game by striking out designated hitter Matt Lindsay.
Sequel
In the second game, the Elis jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Elkins scored on a wild pitch by Rowland. That was the only time in the doubleheader that Yale would bring anyone home. Rowland took control the rest of the way, giving up only five hits, striking out seven, and walking none. He improved his record to 2-3 on the year.
The Tigers evened the score in the third inning with a single by junior catcher Casey Hildreth that scored junior first baseman Andrew Hanson.
Going into the fourth inning tied 1-1, Princeton took the lead on a double by sophomore shortstop Pat Boran that scored juniors infielder Sean McNally and second baseman Tim Phillips. Boran was 3 for 6 with two doubles and three RBI in the second game.
The Tigers slowly added to the advantage with one run each in the fifth, seventh and ninth innings. Eight Princeton players had at least one hit in the game.
The score could easily have been more lopsided — Princeton left 16 runners on base in the second game.
While neither rain nor sleet can keep mail carriers from their appointed rounds, a combination of both prevented baseball from completing the weekend at Brown. Yesterday's April snow postponed the doubleheader against Brown, which will be played in Providence, R.I., today at noon.
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