Tigers drop pair of one-run thrillers

Offense was in no short supply this weekend for the baseball team. Wins were, however.

Princeton opened up its 2005 campaign this weekend against Richmond in Virginia. In the end, the Tigers dropped both parts of the weekend doubleheader, the first by a 7-6 score and the second by a 2-1 score. Still, there were certainly promising signs, such as Princeton's offensive output.

"Although we lost both games, we proved we can and will be a competitive team this year," sophomore pitcher Gavin Fabian said. "Our first time outside was a chance to reacquaint ourselves with the competition and challenges of real games and also figure out the most effective lineup as we approach conference play."

The first game, the Tigers' season opener, started off especially well, thanks to serious offensive production from junior first baseman Ryan Eldridge. Eldridge started the scoring off for Princeton in the top of the second, leading off the inning with a shot to right field that cleared the wall, putting the Tigers up 1-0. Two batters later, senior third baseman Paul Ackerman joined the party, belting another homer to right field and pushing the count to 2-0.

Unearned runs

Princeton took advantage of a few Richmond mistakes in the third to post three more runs, all unearned. With one down, senior left fielder Adam Balkan walked to get things started in that inning. Junior centerfielder Andrew Salini then reached on an error. This brought up Eldridge again, who crushed a homer to right field for the second straight inning. This one, a three-run shot, gave the Tigers a healthy 5-0 lead.

The last of the Princeton scoring came in familiar fashion in the sixth inning. Salini went deep, this one to centerfield, to push the score to its largest margin, 6-0. The homer was the fourth of the game for Princeton. In fact, all four of the Tigers' hits were dingers.

Princeton would not enjoy the comfort of this hefty lead for much longer, as the Spider offense finally broke through in the latter half of the sixth. Richmond plated four runs on two hits in the inning and also took advantage of a few crucial Tiger errors.

After getting the first out, the Spiders got their first man aboard on a dropped third strike. The runner then advanced on an error, which also allowed another runner to get on base. From there, a single up the middle, another error, two walks and an infield single all led to Richmond putting up a four spot on the scoreboard.

Richmond scored two more in the next inning off a double and a subsequent single to put runners on first and third. Both runners were driven in with a double to left-center immediately afterwards. This evened things up at 6-6 and represented six unanswered runs for the Spiders.

In the eighth, Richmond finally put the game away. The Spiders finished off their huge comeback with a triple and then a sacrifice fly that drove in the winning run, giving them the 7-6 victory.

Deja vu all over again

In Game Two, it was Richmond that found the scoreboard first. A double in the third inning and a single in the fourth each drove home a run to give the Spiders a 2-0 advantage.

The Tigers answered in the sixth when Eldridge singled home sophomore second baseman Aaron Prince for his fifth RBI of the doubleheader. Princeton was unable to find the scoreboard again despite outhitting its opponent for the game. The score remained 2-1.