Rutgers romps past baseball in Piscataway

The baseball team was soundly shellacked in an intrastate matchup with Rutgers yesterday afternoon, as the home-standing Scarlet Knights roughed up three Princeton hurlers en route to an easy 15-6 victory.

Although the Tigers (14-13 overall, 3-5 Ivy League) managed to bang out 15 hits, it did them little good, as they stranded runners on base nearly every inning. Meanwhile, their Big East opponents feasted at the plate.

Rutgers rightfielder Jeff Frazier did the most damage, going 4-4 with six runs batted-in, including a three-run home run. His clutch hitting helped teammate Craig Badger, the Scarlet Knight leadoff man, to score each of the five times he reached base.

Sophomore right fielder Andrew Salini was one of the few bright spots for Princeton, picking up three hits on the day. Junior relievers Brian Kappel and Brian Biegen also performed well, staunching the bleeding by shutting down Rutgers for the final 2 and 2/3 innings.

The game began ominously for Princeton, stranding two runners in the top of the first. In the bottom of the frame, Badger announced his intentions to torment the Tigers all day. After leading off the game with a single and stealing second, he scored the game's first run on a sacrifice fly.

Princeton briefly took a 2-1 lead in the top of the third, thanks to RBI base knocks by junior designated hitter Will Venable and senior catcher Tim Lahey. But the Scarlet Knights responded furiously in the bottom of the inning.

Once again, Badger was the instigator, walking and stealing second. Two batters later, Frazier's three-run home run gave Rutgers a lead it would never relinquish. By the time junior pitcher Aaron Herr headed for an early shower, the rout was on, as six runs crossed the plate in the inning.

Princeton scratched out an unearned run in the fourth, but Rutgers tallied twice more against freshman reliever Wills Sweney to extend the lead to 9-3. The teams then traded runs in the fifth, with the Tigers getting a solo blast from Lahey.

The final straw came in the bottom of the sixth, when Rutgers roughed up freshman lefty Michael Zaret for five runs, with Badger and Frazier playing prominent roles in the rally once again.

The Tigers notched a single run in both the eight and ninth to bring the final margin to 15-6, but it was too little, too late.

Jim Jansen picked up the win for the Scarlet Knights, giving up four runs in five innings, and three relievers combined to close out the game.

Into the Lion's den

Saturday, the Tigers travel to New York for the first doubleheader of a four-game weekend set with Columbia (9-17, 6-6) — a series that may prove to be Princeton's most crucial of the regular season.

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The Lions currently lead the Lou Gehrig Division of the Ivy League, with Princeton a game back in the standings. Meanwhile, the other two teams in the division, Penn (2-8) and Cornell (1-7) appear headed to the cellar.

In other words, this weekend's head-to-head showdown will likely determine which squad will move on to face the Red Rolfe Division champ in the Ivy League Championship Series.

Given that they're starting in a hole, the Tigers need at least a split, if not a 3-1 or 4-0 weekend, if they hope to still be playing in late May.

Princeton will send its normal rotation of starters to the hill — junior Ross Ohlendorf and sophomore Erik Stiller on Saturday, and freshman Eric Walz and Gavin Fabian on Sunday.

Countering them will likely be Brian Dovelea, Jessen Grant, Greg Mullens and southpaw Brendan Quinn. While none of them have put up spectacular numbers, Dovelea, a senior, has performed the best of the pride of Lions, going 2-3 with a 4.50 earned-run average in 40 innings of work.

Offensively, Columbia is led by outfielder Fernando Perez. A Princeton Junction native, his .351 batting average is tops on the team. First baseman Ryan Schmidt is the most reliable power source, with five homers and 23 RBIs, but he bats just .237 and whiffs frequently.

The first pitch of the doubleheader will be thrown out at noon both days.