The twin titans of Ivy League baseball will battle it out today and tomorrow afternoon as the Tigers (15-15 overall, 7-1 Ivy League) travel to Penn to take on the Quakers (18-11, 9-3).
Both Princeton and Penn are currently locked in a first place tie in the Lou Gehrig division of the Ivy League. The two teams are dominating the rest of the Ivy League — no other team has a league record above .500.
Like any good showdown, the action will begin today at high noon. The two teams will play a four-game series, which will consist of a doubleheader today and tomorrow.
These are undoubtedly the most important four games of the season for the Tigers, as the winner of this series will be in a dominant position to finish on top of the Ivy League.
Both teams will also have extended winning streaks on the line. The Tigers have won their last eight games, while the Quakers have won their last four.
What separates Penn from the rest of the Ivy League — including Princeton — is its hitting.
The Quakers' lineup that the Tigers will face today will be replete with star hitters that have put forth a stellar season.
A remarkable six out of nine players on Penn's starting lineup boast batting averages above .300. Led by Nate Moffie and Nick Italiano (both with a .375 average), Penn's offense is leading the Ivy League with a .309 team average.
Second from the bottom
In comparison, the Tigers are second to last in the Ivy League in that category, posting a .242 team average, with only two players hitting over .300.
Princeton's offense will be led by sophomore center fielder B.J. Szymanski, who boasts a .343 average and is among the top performers in the Ivy League in hits (37) and total bases (52). Szymanski's latest hot streak won him Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors last week.
Naturally, with a full lineup of good hitters, the Quakers are the league's best when it comes to scoring runs.
Penn has scored a league-leading 172 runs in 24 games and has averaged almost 10 runs per game in its Ivy League contests.
Meanwhile, the Tigers lag behind, registering 125 runs in 25 games. Princeton, however, is not too far behind the Quakers in Ivy League performance, averaging a little more than eight runs per game.
The reason for this improved average is that the Tigers have played like a different team as of late, with the offense turning things up a notch after a slow start.
Nevertheless, Princeton will likely find itself on the weaker end when matching up its offense with Penn.
Luckily for the Tigers, it's a well-known fact that pitching and defense wins championships.
Seniors David Boehle and Ryan Quillian are the two top guns of the Tiger starting pitching staff. Both starters are among the league leaders in earned run average, with Boehle at 3.77 and Quillian posting a 3.79 mark.
Boehle has had an excellent year, sporting a 2-1 record and an impressive 28-6 strikeout to walk ratio. Quillian has also been solid this year, and his latest performance was a win over last year's Ivy champion, Harvard.
And if the Tigers are ahead in the seventh inning, they will hand the ball over to sophomore reliever Thomas Pauly, who is currently putting together another outstanding season.
Pauly has already amassed two Ivy League Pitcher of the Week honors this season, and his 0.76 ERA, 4-0 record and .175 batting average against is dominating.
Meanwhile, Penn boasts a similarly effective closer in Brian Winings, who has yet to allow a single earned run, despite registering seven saves in 12 appearances.
The rest of the Quakers' pitching staff is not so spectacular, however, which is evidenced by the statistics: not a single one of their regular starting pitchers holds an ERA under 5.00.
Princeton's season now rests on whether or not its outstanding pitching will be able to stop Penn's outstanding hitting and whether or not the Tigers can score enough runs against Penn's mediocre pitching.
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