The baseball team was a frustrated nomad this weekend, roaming a desert of early-season losses thirsty for victories to set its 4-11 record straight. Suddenly, an oasis dyed with maroon and navy ap-peared on the horizon, and the Tigers drank it dry, beating Penn (0-4 Ivy League, 4-16 overall) in all four games of their Ivy-opening doubleheaders at Clarke Field this weekend.
"We could care less what our record is coming back from the spring trip," Princeton head coach Scott Bradley said.
And it showed.
Trailing by three in the seventh and final inning of the Friday opener, Princeton (4-0 Ivy, 8-11 overall) rallied for four runs to win 5-4.
The Tigers held a 1-0 lead into the fifth inning, when the Quakers finally broke the dam against junior pitcher Ryan Quillian. After Quillian got the first two batters out, he walked catcher Ryan Winings, then gave up two straight singles and a run before second baseman Nick Italiano tripled in two more. Outfielder Bryan Graves homered in the sixth to push the Princeton deficit to 4-1.
But Penn pitcher Andrew McCreery (0-3) stayed in one inning too long. After striking out freshman first baseman Ryan Elderidge, McCreery walked senior infielder Eric Voelker, and the collapse began. Sophomore catcher Tim Lahey tripled, followed by a single from sophomore outfielder Ryan Reich and a game-tying triple from pinch-hitting sophomore Steve Young. Senior shortstop Pat Boran then singled home Young to complete the comeback.
"We were starting to think about our lineup for the second game," Bradley said. "McCreery was giving us a tough time. It's just amazing how baseball works."
Lahey was 3-3 with three RBI. Junior Mark Siano, who pitched the seventh, got the win for the Tigers and improved to 2-1.
The Tigers made it easier on themselves in game two, winning 4-1 behind five shutout innings from junior David Boehle (1-1).
Fast start
Princeton jumped out with three runs on four hits in the bottom of the first, tacked on an insurance run in the third and never looked back.
Despite only scoring once, Penn had baserunners in every inning and left a total of 15 men on base.
Princeton kept rolling Saturday.
Penn pitcher Mark Lacerenza walked four of the first five batters he faced and was pulled before recording an out as the Tigers used a four-run first en route to a 7-4 win.
After the Quakers scored once in the top of the first off freshman pitcher Ross Ohlendorf, Lacerenza could not find the strike zone in the bottom half. He walked Boran, Miller, Voelker, and Elderidge. Young, batting between Boran and Miller, reached on an error. Lacerenza was pulled after Elderidge's walk. With the bases loaded and two runs aleady in, reliever Mike Mattern minimized the damage, getting out of the jam with only two more runs home.
Ohlendorf settled down, allowing three runs and five hits in 5.2 innings with six strikeouts to improve to 2-1. Sophomore Thomas Pauly pitched the rest, allowing one run and one hit, for his fourth save.
The Quakers crawled to within 4-3 in the fourth inning, but could not close the gap. Princeton scored three times in the sixth, thanks to four singles and two Penn errors, to give Pauly some breathing room.
In the Saturday finale, again the Quakers held a 4-1 late-inning lead, and again the Tigers walked all over it, using a five-run sixth to turn the tides and win 8-4.
Penn pitcher Ben Krantz carried a no-hitter and a three-run lead into the sixth, but could only scratch his head as the Tigers cranked out five runs on three hits, one error, three wild pitches, and a successful double-steal in the inning.
"Both games [Saturday] we had more runs than hits," Boran said. "We need to put the ball in play a little more consistently and tighten up our defense a little."
"We got battered on our [spring] trip," Bradley said, "but our kids know it's about getting better. They're able to get up, regroup, and come back.
"The important thing is we have a lot of young guys and [the older guys] are able to show the young guys what to do to play these four-game weekends."
Those young guys — five freshmen started at least one game this weekend — responded to that leadership this weekend.
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