The Tiger baseball team wanted to go to bed Sunday night above .500 for the first time since coming back from its spring trip 4-11, and senior captain Pat Boran played the role of Sandman.
Boran's one-out double in the bottom of the ninth inning in game two of Saturday's doubleheader with Pace (10-30) scored sophomore utility man Steve Young and capped a 5-4 victory and two-game sweep of the visiting Setters.
In the first game, freshman Ross Ohlendorf shook off a rocky third inning to lead Princeton (19-18 overall, 11-5 Ivy League) to a 9-3 win. Ohlendorf (5-2) surrendered three runs — all in the third — and struck out seven in five innings to get the win.
After Boran reached on catcher interference to lead off the game, he scored on a single by freshman outfielder Adam Balkan. Freshman first baseman Ryan Eldridge later singled home Balkan, who had stolen second and advanced to third on a poor throw.
Pace, which recently lost to Columbia 21-1, bounced back with three in the third off Ohlendorf, but after Boran scored in the bottom half on a sacrifice fly by junior designated hitter Jon Miller, the Setters never saw the lead again.
Princeton added three runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth to clinch it. Junior Mark Siano pitched the last two innings in relief, striking out two and allowing three hits.
In game two, Princeton again came out of the gate strong. With one out, Fitzgerald doubled to the gap in left center field. Balkan follwed with a single to plate the Tigers' run in the first inning. The Tigers added two in the third and one in the fourth to take a 4-0 lead and set their own pace.
But as their name suggests, the Pace Setters would not relent, erupting for four runs off freshman pitcher Jason Vaughan in the fifth inning, tying the game and knocking Vaughan from the contest.
The Setters successfully played small ball, starting the rally with a hit batsman and reeling off four singles. By the time Princeton knew what had hit them, four runs had crossed the plate.
"Our pitching was good today," head coach Scott Bradley said. "The [Pace] guys swing the bats pretty well."
The score stayed deadlocked into the ninth as junior Scott Hindman and senior Bill Broome pitched a combined three innings of no-hit baseball in relief and Setters starter Joe Magri settled down after his early troubles.
Sophomore Thomas Pauly, the ace of the Tiger bullpen this season, shut down Pace again in the ninth, setting the stage for Boran. With one out, Young drew a walk and stole second before the captain cranked a double to left field, scoring Young and tying himself for the school record for hits in a career (202).
The Tigers stole 11 bases Saturday on the Pace catching combination of Jon Green and Joe DeCandia, more than one-third their previous total for the season.
"They were a little weak behind the plate," Bradley said. "We don't run a whole lot, but we were able to get some easy runs by getting some guys into scoring position when we needed."
On Sunday, Pace and Princeton expected to head up the road to New York to play a third game.
The weather, however, did not cooperate and rain postponed the game until May 7.
The Sunday rain will not dampen the Tigers' hopes of repeating as Ivy League Champions. Princeton plays at St. John's this Tuesday before a deciding Gehrig Division series against Cornell.
Cornell (11-26, 3-11 Ivy) is currently in the cellar of the league, but could play a spoiler role as it did this weekend. Columbia, which is currently in second place in the Gehrig Division, split with the Big Red this weekend. Two of the four games were postponed for rain. The Lions are now 8-6 in league play.
Just two games back of the Tigers, the Lions could make a run at the Gehrig crown with help from Cornell. Bradley says his team will stay focused for the remainder of the season in its attempt to grab the Ivy crown.
"Every time you put on your uniform you come out and play, and you have something to do," he said.
(Staff writer David Omenn contributed to this report.)
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