Baseball splits with Cornell to claim Gehrig Division title

Princeton baseball needed three or four wins and some help from Dartmouth this weekend to have a shot at hosting next weekend's Ivy League Championships. The Big Green provided, but the Tigers could only grab two wins in four tries against Cornell – good enough to clinch the Gehrig Division title – and now await the result of a one-game playoff between Harvard and Brown to determine their opponent and destination for the title series.

In Sunday's first game, Princeton got a complete game from junior Ryan Quillian and pulled off a division-clinching 5-1 victory.

Princeton (22-20 overall, 13-7 Ivy League) struck first when sophomore utility man Steve Young scored on a double-play groundout in the bottom of the first inning. After junior Jon Miller doubled to right, freshman Ryan Eldridge pulled a soft single past Cornell (14-31, 6-13) second-baseman Vince Santo for a 2-0 lead.

Princeton added to the lead in the fourth when junior infielder Mike Chernoff forced another grounder by Santo to score sophomore catcher Tim Lahey for a 3-0 advantage.

Quillian carried a two-hit shutout into the fifth inning, but it would not last. Cornell center-fielder Andrew Luria doubled when freshman center-fielder Adam Balkan's diving attempt for his liner came up empty. Two batters later, left-fielder David Bredhoff singled over the glove of Young to cut the lead to 3-1.

Princeton answered right back in its half of the fifth. Miller and Eldridge led off with consecutive singles, Lahey flied out, and senior third-baseman Eric Voelker doubled home both runners to give the Tigers a 5-1 lead.

Quillian finished off the game without surrendering another run, scattering seven hits and four strikeouts through seven innings, and the Tigers clinched their seventh-consecutive Gehrig Division title with a 5-1 victory.

Princeton, still with hopes of hosting the title series, started well in game two when Young led off the epic with a home run off the left-field foul pole. The Tigers' offense stalled after that.

Cornell tied the game in the fourth on a single by first-baseman Flint Foley, and the game moved into the ninth tied at one.

After sophomore Thomas Pauly shut down Cornell in the ninth, the Tigers were held scoreless by pitcher Erik Rico for the eighth-straight inning and the game moved into extra frames.

In the eleventh inning, Santo doubled to right-center with one out, then scored on a Foley single to give Cornell a 2-1 lead.

But the Tigers weren't finished. With one out in the 11th, Young reached on a throwing error and scored on a ground-rule double by Miller to keep the Tigers alive, 2-2.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

In the 14th, Cornell finally wore down Pauly, scoring two runs to take a 4-2 lead, a deficit from which Princeton could not recover.

"You've got to be able to score runs," Princeton head coach Scott Bradley said. "You have to be able to take advantage of situations, and the weekends always come down to who gets the hits at the right time."

Junior David Boehle started on the mound for the Tigers and pitched seven innings, giving up one run on five hits while striking out five. Pauly pitched seven innings of relief, giving up three runs on five hits and six strikeouts.

"Our pitching has been phenomenal," junior designated hitter Jon Miller, who went 6-8 on the day, said. "Pauly pitched his heart out. He gave us five or six chances to win today, and we couldn't do it."

If the Crimson topple the Bears in their neutral-site playoff Wednesday, they will win the Red Rolfe Division and host the best-of-three Ivy League Championship Series next weekend. If Brown wins, an unknown tiebreaker will be used to determine whether the Bears or Princeton will host the series.

At Cornell on Friday, the Tigers came away with a split, winning the first game 6-1 and losing the second 9-7, to set up Sunday's division-clinching performance.

In the first game, freshman pitcher Ross Ohlendorf had a no-hitter through four innings and a shutout through six en route to a complete-game victory to improve his team-leading win total to six.

The Tigers jumped out right away, scoring five runs in the first two innings and adding the sixth in the top of the fifth to cruise to the win.

Princeton did not sprint to the same start in game two. The Big Red scored once in each of the first two innings, but the lead did not last.

The Tigers erupted for five runs in the third to take a 5-2 lead, but their lead was not etched in stone either.

After Princeton made it 6-2 in the fifth, Cornell countered with five in its half to take a 7-6 lead.

The Tigers tied it in the sixth but surrendered two more in the bottom half on the way to the 9-7 defeat.

Senior shortstop Pat Boran removed himself from the second game after injuring himself during an at-bat. Bradley would not specify his captain's injury, but Boran made pinch running appearances in both of Sunday's games with his hand and wrist wrapped.

Eldridge highlighted the Friday offense, going 3-6 with two RBI and a run scored.

"We're going to go as far as our pitching," Miller said. "I think we'll be all right, wherever we go. Right now, it hurts, but we'll come back. We're playing for the championship. Seven in a row. It feels pretty good."