Baseball makes NCAA tournament

The baseball team has owned the Ivy League the past five years and continued that trend last season, as they were crowned Ivy League Champions for the second year in a row and fourth time in the past five years. With the conference title under its belt, the team also secured another trip to the NCAA Regionals, where its postseason run came to an end.

For a while it seemed as if Princeton had the chance of making a run in Regionals after they knocked off highly favored Virginia in the first game, 4-2. The Tigers were unable to carry the momentum into the next game, however, as they faced a talented Vanderbilt team that rolled to an 11-1 win. With much of the wind taken out of their sails, the Tigers marched into game number three (their third in two days) hoping to extend their season a few more games. These hopes were dashed quickly, however, as they had to face a Virginia team that had no interest in being beaten twice by the same team. The Cavaliers scored early and often and prevailed easily, 9-0.

The loss ended the season for Princeton, which finished with a mark of 28-20, one shy of the school record for wins in one season. The season was a success, especially considering that expectations leading into the season were not as high as usual.

After winning the previous year's conference title, many would have assumed that the Tigers would again be favorites entering last season. This was not the case, however, as numerous questions surrounded the team's potential.

The biggest concern was that of the pitching staff, which was largely inexperienced, included freshmen Gavin Fabian and Eric Walz, and sophomore Erik Stiller. In fact, of all of the starters, only one, junior Ross Ohlendorf, entered the season with a significant number of innings pitched. The pitching soon became the backbone of the team, providing a great deal of consistency throughout the year. Ohlendorf, as expected, was the leader of the staff, ending the regular season with a 6-3 record and a 3.66 ERA. He also led the team in strikeouts, fanning 75 on the year.

Ohlendorf's amateur days are now a thing of the past, as the current senior was drafted 116th overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks and is now playing with their minor league Class A affiliate, the Yakima (Wash.) Bears.

Equally impressive are Fabian's numbers, who in his first year, recorded a 4-2 record with a team-low 3.10 ERA and received the Rookie of the Year award from the New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association.

The rest of the pitching staff didn't disappoint, as Stiller was 4-3, while Walz was 3-3. Junior Brian Kappel played the role of closer well for the Tigers, as he recorded eight saves on the year and was named relief pitcher of the year by the NJCBA.

The offense lived up to its pre-season hype. It finished the regular season with a .304 team average. Power was never lacking, as the team combined for 34 homers compared to only 21 surrendered by the pitching staff.

Much of the buzz surrounding the offense was centered on junior centerfielder B.J. Szymanski. The eventual 48th overall draft pick had one of the better years of any player in recent memory as he led the Tigers in several offensive categories, including batting average (.378), hits (62), triples (8), and slugging percentage (.646). Szymanski was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds and is a member of their rookie league affiliate in Billings, Mont.

Szymanski and Ohlendorf were not the only Tigers to get drafted. Three others were given the opportunity to chase the major league dream.

Catcher Tim Lahey, who managed to go deep seven times to lead Princeton in the home run category, was taken in the 20th round by the Minnesota Twins and played in Elizabethton, Tenn. on a Twins rookie league team.

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Senior second baseman Steve Young hit at a .365 clip and held on to the team lead in on-base percentage (.492) and stolen bases (15). The Detroit Tigers took him in the 16th round. He played rookie league ball in Oneota, N.Y. this summer.

Current senior Will Venable was also drafted, but elected to retain his amateur status by not signing with an organization.