Tigers toppled twice by tough Towson team

It was not an easy week for the baseball team as the Tigers took on Rutgers in Piscataway on Tuesday and then hosted Towson at Class of 1895 Field on Wednesday.

The Tigers (25-12) managed only a split against Rutgers, despite outscoring the Scarlet Knights, 13-6, over the games. Playing Towson (22-13) on Wednesday, Princeton was hit hard early in the first game, eventually falling 5-2. The Tigers could not quite catch Towson, who barely eked out a 4-3 win in the nightcap.

Against Rutgers, Princeton run-ruled the Scarlet Knights in the first game with home runs by senior outfielder Melissa Finley, sophomore pitcher Calli Jo Varner and freshman Lauren Bierman, winning the game 12-3. After a five-run third inning, the Tigers led 7-0. From then on their lead only increased, and the game was called after the fifth inning with Princeton leading, 12-3.

In the second game, Princeton's bats were silenced. Rutgers had a run apiece in the first, second and fifth innings. The Tigers' lone run in the fifth was not enough to spark a comeback, and the Scarlet Knights squeezed out a 3-1 win.

In Wednesday's first game, Towson jumped on Finley's pitches early. In the second inning with a runner on base, outfielder Nina Navarro notched a home run to put Towson on top for the rest of the game.

After an inning and a third, Barron pulled Finley and put in Varner. Towson's rally would not stop there, however. With a runner on base in the third inning, Towson catcher Aimee Rosa hit one over the fences, to put her team up 4-0. Rosa also scored the fifth run for the Tigers, a solo shot in the seventh inning for her second homer of the game.

Princeton's first run came in the fourth when freshman leftfielder Beth Dalmut led off the inning with a double. After advancing to third base, Dalmut scored when the ball got past the catcher with senior catcher Ty Ries at bat.

In the bottom of the seventh, sophomore rightfielder Stephanie Steel led the inning off with another double. After Steel moved up to third, Cobb-Adams hit a sacrifice fly to score the final run for Princeton, too little too late for the Tigers.

In the second game, the score was knotted at zero until the fourth inning, when Towson finally broke through. Towson outfielder Jeanne Bosch led off the inning with a single up the middle. Schaus then gave up a walk to Rosa to put runners on first and second with none out. Third baseman Keely Walsh sac bunted the runners over to second and third. A passed ball let Bosch score, and then first baseman Samantha Schaukowitch topped it off with a bomb to left field to put Townson up 3-0.

Princeton was not able to answer until the fifth inning, when Snyder started off the inning by smacking a ball up the middle. After two fly outs by Steel and Varner, Ty Ries hit a double off the base of the wall in left-center to score Snyder. When the throw came home, Ries took the initiative and advanced to third. The catcher tried to get her before she could advance, only to throw the ball away and giving Ries an easy trot to home to make it 3-2.

Towson did not wait long to answer, and Schaukowitz got her second hit of the day, a key hit to the left-centerfield gap for a double. A sac bunt put her at third — a crucial run for Princeton to keep from coming home. After a strikeout, shortstop Katie Mumbauer hit a bloop single over the head of Andras at third to put Towson up 4-2 — a run that would prove to be the deciding factor.

The next score came in the bottom of the seventh, Princeton's last chance to take the game from Towson. Dalmut blasted a shot over the left-field fence to inch the Tigers closer, 4-3. After Snyder flew out, Varner reignited the Tigers' hopes by pounding a base hit over the head of the centerfielder. In a tough call, she was gunned out at second, just missing a double that could have brought Princeton back into the game. The Tigers could not quite catch Towson, who earned the win and the sweep.