Four dingers for Salini in road series

Led by four home runs off the bat of senior rightfielder Andrew Salini, the baseball team took two of three from Richmond this weekend.

The Tigers (3-4 overall) have made a smooth transition from practicing indoors to playing in a competitive outdoor atmosphere. Their bats seem as potent as ever despite the period of dormancy over the winter.

"Early in the season last year, we struggled offensively," sophomore pitcher Christian Staehely said. "This year our hitters are jumping all over the pitching and that's making the difference so far."

In the two wins over Richmond (4-11) on Saturday, Princeton was solid on both offense and defense, scoring nearly three times as many runs as it allowed.

In the first game on Saturday, it was the Spiders who got on top first with a run in the bottom of the third inning. With one out, Richmond leftfielder Benji Marshall reached on a throwing error by senior shortstop Matthew Becker. Marshall then scored on a double down the left field line. Senior hurler Erik Stiller was not charged with the run.

The Tigers quickly answered in the top of the fourth. With one out in the inning, Salini launched a solo shot over the fence in center. The home run was Salini's third of the season.

"We came out strong on Saturday," sophomore second baseman Spencer Lucian said. "Everything was in sync at the plate and in the field."

The game would not stay knotted for long, though, as the Spiders tacked another run on the board in the bottom of the fourth. Catcher Alex Hale led off the inning with a single and quickly advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by shortstop Victor Croglio. Hale advanced to third on a wild pitch and was knocked in when second baseman Austin Reilly doubled to left.

Lucian led off the top of the fifth with an infield single to short. He then advanced to second on a balk and reached third on a failed pickoff attempt. Junior third baseman Aaron Prince doubled to center to drive Lucian in.

The game remained tied at two until the top of the seventh, when Princeton picked up six runs.

Freshman centerfielder Derek Beckman started off the inning with a single. A Prince double knocked Beckman in. After two pitching changes and a Salini groundout to first, junior leftfielder Sal Iacono drew a walk and, with runners on first and second, senior catcher Zach Wendkos singled to left to drive in Prince. Senior first baseman Stephen Wendell grounded into a fielder's choice to third for the second out of the inning.

A little two-out magic led to another four runs for the Tigers. After freshman designated hitter Andrew Doupe walked to load the bases, Lucian hit a base-clearing triple to center to pick up three RBIs. After another Richmond pitching change, freshman shortstop Dan DeGeorge singled home Lucian.

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The Spiders tried to put together a two-out rally in the bottom of the ninth but came away with only one run. Junior Michael Zaret recorded the win for Princeton and Rob Berzinskas took the loss for Richmond.

"The upperclassmen are giving consistent performances between the lines and showing good leadership off the field," Staehely said. "And the freshman this year are showing great promise with the few chances they've been given."

Two-for-two on Saturday

In Saturday's evening game, the Tigers took the lead early with two runs in the top of the second. Doupe led the inning off with a double to right center. The Spiders then recorded two outs before a Lucian single moved Doupe to third and a DeGeorge double scored them both.

Richmond knotted the game at two in the bottom of the fourth. A leadoff walk of designated hitter Chris Vargo followed by a single from Marshall put runners on first and second with no outs.

A sacrifice bunt turned sour for Princeton when Wendkos made a throwing error that allowed Vargo to score, leaving runners on first and third. The next batter singled up the middle, scoring Marshall for the second run of the inning — the last run the Spiders would record.

Princeton took the lead in the top of the sixth when Wendkos walked and Doupe knocked one over the left field fence, making the score 4-2.

The Tigers added two insurance runs in the top of the ninth when a two-out single by Prince kept the inning alive for Salini, who homered to right-center for his second of the day and third of the season. Junior Gavin Fabian recorded the win for Princeton and Derek Duclos took the loss.

Ten not enough

Two Salini homeruns in Sunday's matchup would not be enough for the Tigers as they lost the last game of the series, 12-10.

Princeton jumped out to an early lead in the first on a pair of two-run homers by Salini and Doupe.

Richmond answered back with three runs of its own taking advantage of two errors in the field for the Tigers. All three runs were unearned.

The slugfest continued in the top of the second as Princeton picked up another three runs to regain the four-run lead, 7-3. With one out, Beckman reached on an infield single to second. He then advanced to third on an error by the second baseman on a DeGeorge grounder. Prince doubled to right, scoring Beckman and advancing DeGeorge to third. After an intentional walk to Salini, Iacono singled through the left side to pick up two RBIs.

The Spiders scored two more unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to make the score 7-5 in favor of the Orange and Black.

A Wendkos home run in the top of the seventh gave the Tigers a three-run lead, but errors in the field in the bottom of the seventh allowed Richmond to score three unearned runs. They ended up with five runs in the inning, which gave the Spiders their first lead of the game, 10-8.

Princeton knotted the game in the top of the eighth. DeGeorge walked with one out and after Prince popped out for the second out of the inning, Salini hit his second home run of the game to knot the score at 10.

Richmond capped off the scoring in the bottom of the eighth as it picked up two more runs. The Tigers threatened in the ninth when Wendkos led off the inning with a double, but nothing came of it as the Spiders retired the next three batters to end the game.

Princeton resumes play at Western Carolina with a doubleheader on Saturday. The game begins five consecutive days of competition for the baseball team over spring break.

"The best part [of our game] has been our approach," Lucian said. "We've come out with a lot of intensity so far, and it will be important to keep up the intensity level and maintain our approach during our spring trip next week."