The first weekend of the season was tough on the men's baseball team. The Citadel beat Princeton in the first three games of the four game series. The Tigers showed promise, though, finishing the weekend off with a win on Sunday.
Historically, getting the first win of the season has been tough for Princeton (1-3 overall. In the 2005 season, the Tigers lost their first nine games before finally coming away with a win two-thirds of the way through March.
This is partially due to the fact that Princeton travels south to face teams that have been practicing all year, since the southern schools do not have to deal with the restrictive weather that is taken for granted in New Jersey. The Tigers overcame this obstacle with their 3-2 defeat of The Citadel (9-4) on Sunday. Sophomore relievers Reid Peyton and Steven Miller picked up the win and the save respectively.
The game did not start auspiciously for Princeton. Second baseman Conrad Kellahan led off the game for the Bulldogs with a walk and then stole second. He advanced to third on a single by outfielder Matt Covington. Sophomore starter Christian Staehely walked the third batter, loading the bases. Junior second baseman Aaron Prince misplayed a ground ball, causing two runners to score and leaving runners on first and third with no outs.
But Staehely maintained his composure and recorded the first out of the inning with the first of his five strikeouts, followed by a walk that loaded the bases for the second time in the inning. He then struck out center fielder Chance Smith for the second out of the inning. The next batter grounded out to second base to end the threat with no further damage.
Princeton tied the game up in the sixth inning on a hit by junior third baseman Sal Iacono. Freshman shortstop Dan DeGeorge started off the inning with an infield single, before advancing to second on a wild pitch. He then scored on a Prince single to left. Prince advanced to second on a ground ball to the right side of the infield, and a passed ball allowed him to reach third with one out. Iacono then drove the ball up the middle to collect the RBI.
Peyton took over and pitched two hitless innings before turning the game over to Miller for the save. Princeton scored the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth. Prince reached first on an infield single to the right side and advanced to second base when senior right fielder Andrew Salini walked. He scored from second on a wild pitch that got by the catcher and rolled all the way to the backstop.
The game ended the weekend on an uplifting note. In contrast, Friday's season opener was a heartbreaker for the Tigers. After falling behind 5-2, Princeton put together a two-out rally for four in the seventh.
DeGeorge started the rally off with an infield single and Prince then singled to right. A Salini homerun over the right field fence tied the game up at five but the Tigers were not done. Iacono followed up the homer with a single up the middle. He moved to second on a walk, and senior first baseman Stephen Wendell scored Iacono with an RBI single.
The lead did not last, though, as The Citadel tied the game up in the bottom of the seventh. The Bulldogs then scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth off of Miller.
In Saturday's doubleheader, the Tigers dropped both games by scores of 14-1 and 10-7. Senior infielder Zach Wendkos scored the only run of the first game on a solo shot in the eighth. Junior starter Gavin Fabian took the loss in the game.
In the second game of the day, Princeton found itself behind seven runs going into the top of the sixth. The Tigers were able to string together a four-run sixth inning and, after allowing one run in the bottom of the sixth, they closed the gap to two runs with two more in the seventh.
With one out, Princeton got its first runner of the inning on an error by the third baseman on a grounder by freshman center fielder Derek Beckman. After DeGeorge fouled out, Prince hit a single to left, putting runners on first and second for Salini. He came through with a single up the middle, driving in Beckman. Iacono then doubled to left center to drive in Prince. Salini and Iacono scored on a Wendell single.
The Tigers will look to even their record as they travel to Richmond for a doubleheader on Saturday.
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