Non-Ivy schedule finally in the past

Its most recent game cut short because of darkness, the baseball team will look to find the answer to its early season struggles under the dawn of the 2006 Ivy League season, which begins this weekend with home games against Harvard and Dartmouth.

The Tigers (4-11-1 overall) had to settle for a frustrating 3-3 tie in the nightcap of their doubleheader Wednesday against Rutgers (7-13-1), as the sun set on both Piscataway, N.J. and the Tigers' 16-game, season-opening road trip.

The annual stretch of away games proved particularly trying for Princeton this season, as freshmen worked their way into demanding roles and veterans sought to ease their way back into the swing of things. The results on paper have been ugly: a surfeit of close losses peppered with a few blowouts and now a tie.

But along the way, the Tigers have managed to get their trio of offensive stars into a formidable groove and find a few gems in their pitching staff, while providing everyone on the roster with a dose of spring training before the games with postseason implications begin.

Junior second baseman Aaron Prince, senior third baseman Zach Wendkos, and senior rightfielder Andrew Salini have paced Princeton's offense, each ranking among the Ivy League leaders with batting averages well above .300 and on-base percentages surpassing .400. Salini has been particularly explosive, having blasted six home runs and driven in 20 runs to claim the top spot in the league in both categories.

While the Tiger offense has been led by the players expected to carry the load prior to the season, Princeton's starting rotation has been a breeding ground for pleasant surprises. As senior ace Erik Stiller has slowly worked his way back into last season's dominant form, junior right-hander Eric Walz has proven himself to be a consistent, sometimes electric, second option.

Walz's earned run average stands at an anemic 1.71. He is followed in the rotation by perhaps the biggest surprise of the non-league season, sophomore righty Christian Staehely. Staehely is eating innings, and his ERA of 2.05 is a dramatic improvement over the mark of 5.60 he posted last year.

Stiller and Walz, though, should get the starts in the Tigers' first meaningful games of the year, part of a home doubleheader on Saturday against the defending Ivy League champion Crimson (3-9-1). The pair of games, set to start at 11:30 a.m., will be the team's first this season at Clarke Field.

Considering that one of the two squads has claimed each of the last 10 Ivy titles, it is a bit surprising that the combined record of Princeton and Harvard going into the league season stands 13 games below .500. It must be noted, however, that only one Ivy school — Yale — currently boasts a winning record, and that none of the remaining seven teams head into league play with a winning percentage above .308.

The Crimson, therefore, remains the most likely opponent for the Tigers should they go on to win the Gehrig Division and advance to the Ivy League Championship Series.

Harvard will go as far as its bats can carry it this season, led by the imposing lumber of first baseman Josh Klimkiewicz, who has driven in 12 runs in 13 games while hitting cleanup in the Crimson lineup.

Other forces to be reckoned with when Harvard is at bat are rightfielder Lance Salsgiver — whose batting average of .396 puts him near the top among Ivy League regulars — and designated hitter Matt Vance, who leads the Crimson in runs scored with 11. Salsgiver and Vance are also the team's top threats to steal, having swiped five bases apiece this season.

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As potent as the Harvard offense is, the Tigers can hope to win many runs back from the Crimson by taking advantage of the team's suspect starting rotation and bullpen. Harvard's team ERA is an embarrassing 8.47, and no individual starter's numbers are worth writing home about.

The same cannot be said about the Big Green (3-9), Princeton's opponent in a doubleheader Sunday afternoon and a team led by its co-captain and ace, righty Josh Faiola. Faiola was named the Ivy League Pitcher of the Week this past Tuesday after leading Dartmouth to victory over No. 28 Cal Poly just over a week ago. He did not allow an earned run while notching six strikeouts over eight innings in a 6-4 win.

Faiola is also one of just three Ivy hurlers to have pitched a complete game this season, which he did back on March 8 against Hofstra. The Big Green managed to lose that game, 3-2, however, despite the fact that Faiola gave up zero earned runs. Unearned runs have plagued Dartmouth all season, as the team has made 27 errors in just 12 games.

Fielding lapses have also played a part in the inconsistency of the Tigers, who have put together both an eight-game losing streak and a three-game winning streak this season. But after Wednesday night's tie, Princeton comes into this weekend riding neither a winning streak nor a losing streak — the perfect way for the wayward Tigers to start afresh.