After tough non-conference games, baseball ready for Ivy play

The spring non-conference schedule is over and the meaningful Ivy League season is about to start for the men's baseball team.

After going just 4-11 on its annual spring trip to start the season, the Tiger baseball team will kick off its Ivy League schedule this weekend with two games against Penn.

Last year, Princeton beat the Quakers three out of four. The only loss came in a 2-1 pitcher's duel between Andrew McCreery, Penn's All-Ivy junior, and junior Ryan Quillian, last year's Ivy Pitcher of the Year. The Tigers took the final three games of the series, 6-4, 8-2, and 8-7.

The Quakers should not be underestimated, though. Penn, also 4-11, is coming off two straight 20-win seasons and is readily welcoming back senior Joe Mullen, who missed the entire 2001 season after hitting .350 in 2000.

Penn's pitching will also be strong, returning six starters, including McCreery and a likely amateur draft pick in June, junior Ben Krantz, from a staff that struck out 226 batters a year ago.

However, Princeton returns junior Mark Siano and senior Tom Rowland who each posted victories over the Quakers last year. In addition, sophomore Thomas Pauly is off to a hot start this season, not allowing an earned run in 8 2/3 innings pitched.

Since both teams boast solid pitching staffs, the games may come down to which team can get consistent contributions from its lineup.

Last Saturday, every starter had at least one hit for the Tigers, who beat William and Mary, 14-5. In its 8-2 win over the Tribe on Sunday, the Tigers duplicated the feat. In the two games, the bottom three spots of the order supplied 11 hits.

Penn, on the other hand, has had to manufacture runs this year. All-American Chris May graduated, taking his .455 batting average, 10 home runs, and 55 runs batted in with him.

The Quakers do feature two big bats in their 2001 lineup. McCreery, who also threw a no-hitter against Yale last year, hit .379, while fellow junior Nick Italiano hit .362.

The problem is in the power department, where no returning player had more than two dingers last year. Therefore, there has been a premium placed on hitting the gaps and playing smart baseball.

So far this season, Princeton has gotten outstanding production from its freshmen and sophomores. Reich is hitting .366 and Saturday's victory featured three hits by freshman first baseman Ryan Elderidge and two by freshman centerfielder Adam Balkan.

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On Sunday, sophomore catcher Tim Lahey hit a home run and Elderidge and Balkan combined for four hits.

In addition, senior shortstop and team captain Pat Boran went 5-11 with five RBI from the leadoff spot in the two games.

Due to its strong play coming into the weekend, Princeton feels confident in its chances against Penn.

"We expect them to come out and be a tough team," Elderidge said, "but if we play the way we know we can, we'll be successful."

Princeton's record thus far is not indicative of the team's overall talent. In its spring non-conference games, the team purposefully played tougher opponents.

Since the Ivy League is unlikely to get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, head coach Scott Bradley focused on getting the team ready to play well during the conference season.

"The way we schedule, we're going to come back [from the non-conference games] and be 4-12, 3-12," Bradley said.

"We have to look at it almost as a spring training. The main objective with our early season games is to find out what kind of lineups [we want to use] and to get our guys ready to play when we start the league season."

Now the Tigers must get ready for what counts.