Tigers split four games at Penn

In the first game of a doubleheader on Sunday, the baseball team found itself down three runs with only two innings left to play. The Tigers had dropped both games at Penn on Saturday by scores of 3-1 and 5-4, and their hopes for salvaging the weekend were appearing ever dimmer. With a third straight win, the Quakers would have cut Princeton's lead in the Gehrig Division to a single game, with a chance to draw even in the fourth game later that day.

But the Tiger bats finally came awake, and Princeton (13-17 overall, 7-5 Ivy League) scored two in the sixth and two in the seventh to earn the comeback win, 6-5. The team later beat the Quakers (11-20, 7-9) in the tail end of the doubleheader, 15-9, for a two-game lead in the Gehrig Division.

"That first game on Sunday might have been as big of a win that shows the character of our team as I have seen in my eight years here," head coach Scott Bradley said. "To come back and win like that should really give us confidence to achieve our goal of playing for the Ivy League championship."

To play for the championship, the Tigers must win the Gehrig Division, the weaker of the two Ivy League divisions. Assuming Princeton holds on, it will face off against the winner of the Rolfe Division.

Clutch hitting

The key to the Tiger comeback was clutch hitting with two outs. After senior centerfielder Will Venable and junior rightfielder Andrew Salini walked to start the sixth inning, the Tigers quickly dropped the next two outs, though both runners advanced on a groundout by senior leftfielder Adam Balkan. Then sophomore third baseman Sal Iacono stepped up to the plate with the pressure on. Iacono blasted a double off the leftfield wall to cut the Penn lead to one.

Then, in the bottom of the seventh, Quaker closer Andy Console came in to try to shut the door, as he had done successfully in the second game the previous day. Console easily got the first two outs before walking junior second baseman Aaron Prince on a full count. Prince advanced to third on a single by Venable, setting the stage for more two-out heroics, this time from Salini, who knocked a single to left-center to score both Venable and Prince.

Senior closer Brian Kappel pitched the bottom of the seventh for his fourth save. Junior starter Erik Stiller earned the win despite giving up five runs — four of them earne — improving to 5-1 on the season.

The second game of the day saw the Tigers outlast Penn in a slugfest that included offensive contributions up and down the Tiger lineup. Iacono and junior third baseman Zach Wendkos each had four hits to lead the Tigers.

"We are getting excited because, all of a sudden, our entire lineup is getting pretty good," Bradley said. "We had been carried by Venable, Salini and [junior designated hitter Ryan] Eldridge, but now we really don't have any easy outs."

Princeton started the scoring with a solo home run by Salini in the first but gave up the lead as Penn replied with a run in the second.

The Tigers then scored four runs in the third, highlighted by a lack of control from the Quaker pitchers, resulting in two walks, a balk and an RBI single from Balkan.

Though Penn scored twice in the bottom of the inning and tied the game with two more the following inning, the Tigers took the lead for good in the top of the sixth. Venable and Eldridge each had RBI singles, and Iacono had an RBI triple, his second triple of the game.

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Sophomore pitcher Eric Walz gave up seven runs (five earned) in eight innings to improve to 1-2.

Saturday struggles

On Saturday, by contrast, the Tigers could not create anything offensively, despite good pitching outings from sophomore Gavin Fabian in the first game and freshman Christian Staehly in the second.

In the two games combined, the Tigers managed only 11 hits and five runs.

In the first game, the Quakers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third, a lead they never relinquished. Princeton's only run came in the fifth after a double by Wendkos and an RBI single by Prince.

In the second game, the Tigers took the lead with three runs in the third, largely due to Venable, who hit a single that scored two runs. He then stole second and scored on a delayed steal of home.

But Penn chipped away and scored a run in the bottom of the inning, before tying the game with two runs in the fifth. The Quakers took the lead for good with a run in the sixth and sealed the game with a run in the seventh.