Last Friday night, the baseball team went to sleep anxiously awaiting the start of its Ivy League season, expecting to play home doubleheaders against Yale and Brown scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. Alas, Mother Nature would not comply, sending forth a deluge that completely covered the friendly confines of Clarke Field, forcing the team to postpone the games until Monday and Tuesday, respectively, and forcing the Tigers to go on the road to play "home" games.
Yet neither rain nor Bears nor Bulldogs nor change of venue could keep Princeton (9-11 overall, 4-0 Ivy League) from opening its season with a bang, as the Tigers swept Yale (9-9, 0-2) in dramatic come-from-behind efforts, 5-4 and 9-8, before pounding Brown (5-11, 0-2), 4-0 and 12-6, the following day.
Princeton almost let the second game against Yale slip away, trailing 8-3 after the Elis scored three runs both in the fifth and the sixth innings by taking advantage of sloppy play by the Tigers. But the sixth was the last time the Bulldogs would score, and the Tigers kept their heads high and doggedly chipped away at the lead.
The comeback began in the bottom of the seventh, when freshman shortstop Spencer Lucian doubled to put Princeton runners on second and third. Junior first baseman Stephen Wendell scored from third on a subsequent single by sophomore second baseman Aaron Prince, and junior rightfielder Andrew Salini then plated Lucian with his third hit of the game, cutting the deficit to 8-5.
The Tigers scored two more in the bottom of the eighth on a two-run homer by Wendell, his fourth of the season.
Still, the Tigers were down 8-7 in the bottom of the ninth, facing the vaunted Yale bullpen. After senior centerfielder Will Venable walked to lead off the inning, Salini earned his fourth run batted in of the game, as his double scored Venable. After an intentional walk to junior designated hitter Ryan Eldridge and a bunt single by senior leftfielder Adam Balkan to load the bases, sophomore catcher Sal Iacono — who was zero-for-four on the day — stepped up to the plate with a Casey at-the-bat snarl. But unlike Thayer's mythical strikeout victim, Iacono singled up the middle to drive home Salini for the win.
The day's first game was just as close and also witnessed Princeton heroics.
The Bulldogs came out playing small ball and took full advantage of Tiger errors. Yale scored two runs in the second inning on a wild pitch and sacrifice fly, setting up the runs with a Princeton throwing error and a sac bunt.
Although Princeton tied it up in the third, Yale scored a run in the fifth and sixth to lead, 4-2.
The Tigers drew even after an Eldridge home run on the sixth and a Prince sac fly in the seventh, but neither team could score another run in regulation, sending the contest into extra innings. With one out in the bottom of the 10th, Venable ended it with a solo shot to the left-centerfield power alley.
Senior closer Brian Kappel pitched a scoreless ninth and 10th inning for his first win of the season.
Easy victories
Princeton traveled to Providence, R.I., to face Brown on Tuesday, where the games were not nearly as exciting.
In game one, junior pitcher Erik Stiller tossed a complete game shutout, scattering three hits and striking out 11 to improve to 3-1 on the season.
The Tigers scored two runs in the second on a single by Wendell, then two more in the fourth on singles by Wendell and Salini, providing Stiller with more than enough run support.
Game two was much closer, with the score knotted at six going into the bottom of the eighth.
But then the dam holding in the Tiger offense burst, and Princeton scored six runs to blow open the game. After Prince walked and Venable doubled, Salini drove in a run with a single. Although Eldridge grounded into a double play on the next at bat, Balkan drove in Venable with a triple, before scoring on an Iacono double. Iacono then scored on a single by junior third baseman Zach Wendkos, and Lucian capped the inning with a single, scoring Wendkos.
The Tigers return to action today at Monmouth at 3:30 p.m., before traveling to Dartmouth and Harvard for a pair of doubleheaders this weekend.
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