Baseball splits road doubleheaders against Ivy foes Brown, Yale

The good news: the baseball team's freshman southpaw Jason Vaughan threw a four-hit shutout against Brown in Providence, R.I.; the Princeton defense committed no errors in Sunday's loss at Yale; sophomore Thomas Pauly continued his excellence by pitching 6.2 innings of four-hit ball in the Tigers' 6-3, 13-inning defeat of Yale.

The bad news: junior Ryan Quillian surrendered seven earned runs to the Elis in just two innings pitched; the defense committed four errors in Princeton's weekend-opening loss to the Bears.

The thrilling extra-innings game capped off an up and down weekend for the Tigers. Though it could only muster eight hits, Princeton's pitchers came through in the clutch.

Junior David Boehle pitched five innings, giving up one run, and Pauly lowered his earned run average to 0.40, registering the win.

In the 13th, junior second baseman Mike Chernoff hit a two-RBI single to give Princeton (13-16, 8-4 Ivy) the lead for good.

In Saturday's game one, the Tiger offense got to Brown starter Jonathan Stern early, but could produce just one run and four hits after the first inning.

Senior shortstop Pat Boran led off the game with a walk and advanced to second on sophomore leftfielder Eric Fitzgerald's single. Both scored on freshman center fielder Adam Balkan's double.

Stern, however, settled down and struck out two of the final three batters in the first. He went the full seven innings, picking up his fifth victory of the season for the Bears (15-16, 5-3 Ivy League).

The Bears offense clawed back into the game in the bottom of the first. The Tiger defense botched two plays, leading to three runs, only two of which were earned. Unable to mount much offense, Princeton lost, 5-3.

Game two was a different story. Vaughan, last week's Ivy League Pitcher of the Week, hurled another gem, taking a no-hitter into the fourth.

The offense, again, started the game with a bang. Boran took the first pitch from Brown pitcher Jamie Grillo and lined it over the fence in left field.

The pitchers' duel lasted into the seventh inning, with the Tigers leading, 2-0. In the inning, Princeton took advantage of two Brown errors and scored five runs, including a three-run shot by Boran.

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That was all the help Vaughan needed, as he completed the shutout, walking just one Bear.

Sunday, last year's Ivy League Pitcher of the Year, Quillian (0-4), took the mound for the Tigers in the opener against Yale (8-17, 3-5 Ivy). After getting through the first two innings unscathed, he gave up seven runs in the bottom of the third before being relieved by senior Bill Broome.

The Princeton lineup could not mount much offense against Eli senior Craig Breslow, recording just five hits and never more than one in an inning. The sole run came in the second, when Balkan doubled in senior third baseman Eric Voelker.

Not everything went wrong, however, as the defense improved mightily. In its 29 games this year, Princeton has committed 72 errors, but did not bobble any balls in the game.

"We thought [defense] was going to be one of the strong points of the team this year," head coach Scott Bradley said. "But I still believe we're a good defensive team and it wouldn't surprise me if we go through a stretch where we start making all the plays."

With an improved defense and a surging offense, the Tigers hope the only news they receive for the rest of the season is good news.