Miller earns first career win

A baseball game just seemed appropriate on a glorious spring Wednesday, and those who made it down to Clarke Field were rewarded with a great game.

Princeton (5-11 overall) met with Route 1 rival Rutgers (12-9) for the Tigers' final non-conference tuneup before league play gets underway.

The contest was tight throughout, but it was the Tigers who scored two in the eighth and survived a ninth-inning Scarlet Knight rally to secure a 3-2 victory.

Freshman hurlers

Freshman pitcher Christian Staehely got the start for Princeton, only the second of his career. He was solid, going four strong innings and giving up only two hits and one run.

That one run was the first Scarlet Knight to step to the plate in the top of the first inning. After walking, he stole second, then advanced to third on a deep flyout. He then promptly scored when the next Scarlet Knight grounded into a sacrifice.

Fellow freshman hurler Steven Miller picked up the win however, as he came in to relieve Staehely in the fifth and threw four innings of shutout ball, giving up only one hit while walking two.

It was during this stretch that Princeton picked up all of its runs. The first came in the fourth when junior designated hitter Ryan Eldridge singled to get things rolling. Senior leftfielder Adam Balkan then smoked a pitch between first and second base, moving Eldridge to second. A walk then loaded the bases with only one out, leaving the Tigers in great scoring position.

Junior first baseman Stephen Wendell then drove one deep to centerfield that, for a short while, looked to be a bases-clearing double. The centerfielder did track it down for the out, but it was deep enough to bring Eldridge in from third. The remaining two runners were stranded, though, leaving the score tied at one.

Eldridge delivers again

The next round of scoring came in the eighth. With the game still tied at one, junior rightfielder Andrew Salini drove a double into the gap in right center. Eldridge then stepped up and came through in typical fashion, ripping a single up the middle through the box and scoring Salini to give the Tigers their first lead of the game at 2-1.

Eldridge has been clutch all season long for Princeton, batting .351 and leading the team with 19 runs batted in and five home runs.

As good as he is at the plate, though, Eldridge isn't exactly a speedster on the basepaths. This led head coach Scott Bradley, looking for an insurance run, to pinch run with freshman Ryan Petrulis. This proved a wise decision, as Petrulis promptly stole second, then advanced to third on a bad throw.

After two consecutive outs, Wenkos stepped up and finally drove Petrulis in with a single in between first and second. The inning ended with two runs on three hits to push the score to 3-1 for Princeton.

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The Scarlet Knights were not done, though, and put together a rally in the ninth. Senior closer Brian Kappel came in for the Tigers to shut it down. He got off to a rocky start, though, thumping the first batter on his second pitch.

The next Scarlet Knight proceeded to rip a line drive just over sophomore second baseman Aaron Prince's head, putting runners on first and second. Rutgers then executed a perfect sacrifice bunt down the first base line to advance the runners to second and third, now with one out. A sacrifice fly then drove in the runner on third. Kappel kept his cool, though, and quickly recorded the third and final out on a fly out to rightfield, slamming the door shut for a 3-2 Princeton victory.