Tigers play to tie after 11

The baseball team's chances for a victory dimmed with the early spring sunset yesterday evening, as a 3-0 lead over Rutgers (7-13-1) evaporated late in the game. Eleven innings weren't enough for a decision and the game in New Brunswick ended in a 3-3 tie when the contest was called due to darkness.

It was Princeton (4-11-1) who struck first when, after two scoreless innings, the Tigers put together a rally in the top of the third. Senior first baseman Stephen Wendell started the inning off with a double to left-center.

After freshman designated hitter Adrian Turnham struck out looking, sophomore leftfielder Spencer Lucian singled between short and third, advancing Wendell. Freshman centerfielder Derek Beckman then hit a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Wendell.

With two outs and a runner on first, the inning was not over for Princeton. After Lucian stole second, freshman shortstop Dan DeGeorge hit an RBI triple to score Lucian. Junior second baseman Aaron Prince then ended the inning with a grounder to second.

The Tigers widened their lead in the sixth inning when they picked up another run to make the score 3-0.

With one man down, Prince drew a walk from Rutgers pitcher Jim Jansen and proceeded to steal second. He then advanced to third on a single by senior catcher Zach Wendkos.

Junior third baseman Sal Iacono popped out to short without advancing any runners for the second out of the inning. Sophomore rightfielder Micah Kaplan knocked the run in with a single up the middle for his second RBI of the season.

Princeton had a chance to pad its lead some more in the top of the eighth when, with one out, Prince singled and Wendkos doubled to put men on second and third. This prompted a Rutgers pitching change, which proved to be a wise move, as new hurler Chris Lillis forced both Iacono and Kaplan to hit into a fielder's choice situation, getting out of the inning without giving up a run.

With a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the eighth, Princeton put junior Michael Zaret in to pitch for junior Gavin Fabian. Zaret walked shortstop Todd Frazier to lead off the inning. Next, left fielder Ryan Hill singled to right, putting runners on the corners. A wild pitch by Zaret allowed Hill to advance to second. With runners on second and third, Zaret fanned the next two batters. With two outs, the Scarlet Knights finally put themselves on the board with a two-run double by first baseman Steve Hook.

Third baseman Tim Querns knocked in Hook with a single through the middle to tie the game at three. The Tigers then brought sophomore Steven Miller in to pitch for Zaret. Miller froze the next batter to end the inning.

Miller stayed in for the ninth and the tenth, surviving a pair of Rutgers rallies to keep Princeton alive. He handed the ball to sophomore Christian Staehely — the Tigers' seventh pitcher of the day — who closed out a scoreless 11th inning before the umpires called the game due to darkness, leaving both teams with that great rarity in baseball, a tie.

The game was the last before the start of the Ivy League season this weekend, which kicks off with a doubleheader at home against defending Ivy champion Harvard on Saturday.