Past Masters: Baseball to meet Big Green, Crimson

This is the most important weekend thus far in the baseball team's developing season. Period.

In a four-game road trip north, the Tigers take on Dartmouth tomorrow and Harvard Sunday in back-to-back doubleheaders. But what you might not know from simply reading the schedule is that these three teams ARE the Ivy League championship. In the last five years, no other team has played in the championship series. Princeton (7-15 overall, 2-2 Ivy League) is the stalwart Gehrig Division representative and has competed for the championship every year since 1996. Harvard (5-14, 2-2) faced the Tigers for the first four of those years, and Dartmouth (6-9, 2-2) made the trip last season.

So given the recent history of these three teams, this weekend is in all likelihood a preview of the Ivy League postseason. And since Princeton is in the Gehrig and the other two are in the Rolfe, this is the only time these teams will see each other before that final series. But that finale is still far in the future.

Before Princeton can even start thinking about the postseason, it now gets a chance to see how it stacks up against the best teams from the Rolfe. The Tigers should get to see if Crimson ace John Birtwell is truly everything the numbers say he is this season. Perhaps the best pitcher in the league, Birtwell currently stands 24th in the nation with a 1.57 earned-run average in 23 innings of work.

Princeton will also get to see how the Big Green has recovered from the graduation of last year's Ivy League Pitcher of the Year, Connor Brooks. Dartmouth lost little else from what was a young team and should again contend with Harvard for the Rolfe title.

But in what could be another close race for the Gehrig Division title — Princeton only edged Cornell by two games last year — every league game matters. Though games against Rolfe teams — which end for Princeton this weekend — may not mean as much in the divisional standings, they could mean the difference by the end of the season. The Tigers already stand tied for second in the Gehrig Division behind 3-1 Columbia, and though the league season is still young, even a weekend split against two good teams would be valuable.

But beyond the numbers in the win and loss columns, this weekend is key in developing a true team identity. Already halfway through the season, the Tigers are still striving to hit the groove that carried last year's team into the playoffs. One year ago, the high-powered offense carried the team, while one ace — junior Chris Young — led the pitching staff.

Though it is early in the Ivy season, the Tigers have struggled with the bats; only three players are currently batting over .300. But if Wednesday's 17-16 victorious offensive showdown against Rider is any indication, Princeton is on its way to regaining last year's offensive form.

On the defensive end, no one Tiger pitcher has stepped into the role of outright ace. Sophomore Ryan Quillian is starting to fit that label with a 3-1 record, but his team-leading 4.67 earned-run average shows that both he and the staff behind him have not yet hit their stride. Last year's championship hero, former closer sophomore David Boehle, registered a good start last weekend and looks to be on his way to filling the number two spot. But neither one is there yet.

Relying upon different players and different aspects of the game can work for wins some of the time, but when neither the offense nor the defense shows up to a game, it is difficult to win. The Princeton team of a couple years ago relied on a deep pitching staff. Last season's Tigers hit the daylights out of the ball, beating even Dartmouth's Brooks in the championship series. This year's team has yet to do either consistently.

Thus, though the Tigers' season as a whole is aging, they have time to take control of what is still a young league season with four strong showings this weekend. Harvard and Dartmouth are strong, but overcoming such a challenge can serve to cement a team in need of cohesion.