Baseball drops three straight games against Oklahoma State

There is no way he could have expected it to be like this. Freshman righthander Brian Biegen stared down off the mound, wondering what to throw next at Oklahoma State's third baseman Zach Cates.

With the count knotted at 1-1, Biegen had a little room to play, but his main goal was to escape the inning. Oklahoma State designated hitter Jose Virgil led off third base, almost flaunting a position he reached by virtue of a single and a two-base error.

Biegen wound and threw, but Cates honed in on the ball as if it came from a pitching machine, lining a double to right field and scoring Virgil. This is how it would go for the baseball team for the remainder of the day, but not for Biegen. Two innings, two outs and 13 runs into his first-ever collegiate start, the rookie was finally given a reprieve.

"The conditions were rough," head coach Scott Bradley said. "We were playing a top-ten team and the wind was howling straight out. We threw some of our young pitchers right into the fire."

Over the span of three days, Princeton (1-3) played Southeast Missouri State (8-6) once and Oklahoma (16-3) three times, winning its first game of the season, 12-4, but dropping the following three to the Cowboys. Clearly overmatched this early in the season, the Tigers lost to Oklahoma, 8-2, on Friday night before dropping a 28-2 contest the following night and a 10-1 game Sunday.

The sheer numbers may be daunting, but for the Tigers this stage in the season is more like Spring Training than Opening Day. With only one outdoor practice heading into the road trip, many Princeton pitchers had yet to even throw off a mound. For pitchers like Biegen and freshman righthander Thomas Pauly this trip was an initiation into college baseball.

"It was a great experience for us," Bradley said. "I think it showed our team where we want to be at the end of the year. [For Biegen and Pauly,] hopefully they take that [28-2 loss] and learn from it."

But beyond the experience gained, the trip also demonstrated a glimmer of what to expect from the Tigers. In a doubleheader split, the top of the Princeton rotation showed why Bradley has such confidence in his already established starters. Sophomore Ryan Quillian picked up where he left off last season, allowing five hits and three runs in the first five innings of the Southeast Missouri game. He left with the lead and sophomore righthander Mark Siano relieved, allowing only one run in three innings of work to clinch the win. In the second game, both righthanders — sophomore David Boehle and junior Tom Rowland — put in good outings against a strong Oklahoma team in the 8-2 loss.

"With our upper-level pitching, we feel like we can play with anybody," Bradley said.

During those two games, the Princeton offense matched its pitching, producing 14 runs and 19 hits. Against Southeast Missouri, senior first baseman Andrew Hanson and his classmate catcher Casey Hildreth led the way. Hanson went a perfect 4-for-4, while Hildreth amassed four RBI and three hits.

"I really like the way we swung the bats on the first day," Bradley said. "But then I think we got tired."

On Saturday, the 8-2 loss seemed like nothing when the Cowboys bombed Princeton with 28 runs on 27 hits, including five home runs. Oklahoma did not let up the following day, when Cowboy outfielder Roy York accounted for the final four runs of the game with a homer in each of his final three at-bats.

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In spite of the outrageous scores, Princeton could do nothing but benefit from these early games — games the Tigers usually do not have the luxury of playing. With one extra week in the calendar before a long road trip over Spring Break, Princeton saw the weekend as an opportunity to play four more games than usual.

"I'm really kind of excited about it," Bradley said. "Usually we play 11 games before we even get a chance to take a breath. Now we have four days to relax before Spring Break."

Those additional days will give the Tigers a chance to tweak their play before a trip that will take them to Coastal Carolina, UNC-Wilmington, Duke and Delaware.