Baseball sweeps pair with Dartmouth

Sometimes the baseball team rides its pitching. Sometimes the bats carry the Tigers. And if there is one overriding message to be learned from Saturday's doubleheader against Dartmouth, it is this: Princeton can win either way.

In a rematch of last year's Ivy League championship series, the Tigers (9-15 overall, 4-2 Ivy League) easily handled the Big Green (6-11, 2-4), winning the first game, 1-0, behind sophomore righthander Ryan Quillian, and then taking the second, 9-6.

With every start, Quillian seems to get more and more comfortable in his role as the team's No. 1 starter. The sophomore pitched his second consecutive seven-inning complete game, striking out nine in the shutout. Quillian only allowed three hits while walking none in his team-leading fourth win.

The contest was a pitching duel from the outset, as Quillian and his opponent, Dartmouth's Lawrence Fey, matched each other almost inning-for-inning. Neither offense could crack the starting pitching until Tiger third baseman junior Eric Voelker reached on a leadoff walk in the fifth inning. Senior center fielder Mickey Martin advanced him to second on a groundout before freshman designated hitter Eric Fitzgerald doubled to drive in the only run of the game.

The second half of the doubleheader saw a completely different type of game. After failing to mount any kind of attack against Quillian, Dartmouth started off the game by finally scoring its first run of the day in the bottom of the first inning.

Princeton then slowly accumulated a lead through the first six innings, scoring two runs in both the second and sixth innings — the latter courtesy of Martin's first home run of the season — to stake a 4-1 lead. Then the Big Green finally started hitting.

In the bottom of the seventh, Dartmouth chased freshman starter Nathan Miller with three more runs, ending the lefthander's day after giving up four runs in 6.2 innings. Junior righthander Tom Rowland came on in relief, giving up one run before getting out of the inning with the Tigers down, 5-4.

The score stayed the same through the next inning, but Princeton mounted a comeback once Big Green reliever Bryn Alderson entered to close the game in the top of the ninth.

After senior second baseman Tim Phillips and junior shortstop Pat Boran reached on base hits, senior first baseman Andrew Hanson stepped to the plate with a chance to tie the game. A single would knot the score, but anything more would vault Princeton into the lead — Hanson did more.

Connecting for his only hit of the day, Hanson blasted his second home run of the season, a three-run shot that put the Tigers up, 7-5. Princeton went on to score two more runs before the inning ended, claiming a lead they would not relinquish. Junior closer Bill Broome allowed one run in the bottom of the ninth to earn his second save of the season.

The Tigers were slated to take on Harvard in a doubleheader yesterday, but poor field conditions kept the teams from taking the field. The contests with the Crimson are now scheduled to start at noon today.