Princeton heads to Monmouth

Lady Luck doesn't seem to be favoring the baseball team these days. After a stormy start to their season, the Tigers hope for clear skies during the rest of league play.

Princeton (4-15-1 overall, 0-4 Ivy League) will look for a reversal of fortune on Tuesday when it heads to West Long Beach, N.J., to take on Monmouth (12-10). The Tigers are desperate for a win, but they won't find the Hawks easy targets, especially considering the run Monmouth has been on. In fact, it would not be unfair to say that, in this case, Princeton will be the hunted.

"After this weekend, our goal against Monmouth is to play a solid game," head coach Scott Bradley said. "We're a little banged up physically, especially on the mound, so we will pitch a number of guys for a few innings each. Sophomore Evan Alexander will start, and we will let him throw two or three innings as he is coming off Tommy John surgery. After that it will be Sophomore Reid Payton and Freshman Brad Gemberling for a few each."

Monmouth is soaring sky-high right now, coming off a dominating performance against St. Francis. The team swept the doubleheader with great panache behind an outstanding all-around performance characterized by fantastic hitting and pitching. In fact, it looks as if the Hawks have to struggle to do something wrong. In its past six games, Monmouth has given up one run or less to the opposition. The team has also set a season record, notching 35 hits en route to 35 runs in a victory over Temple. Their prodigious offense produced two 14-run efforts over Long Island — both wins, 14-1 and 14-0.

Winning against the Hawks will be a tall order for a Tiger team that has struggled of late, with only one 'W' in its last 12 games. Along the way, Princeton has struggled to come up with the right plays at the right time, making mistakes in key moments of the game, whether they be crucial errors, poor pitches or failures to manufacture timely runs. It has been an extremely unfortunate run for the Tigers, and they will have a lot to chew come first pitch.

In order to have a chance at breaking the season-long funk it has been mired in, Princeton's pitching will have to shut down the Hawks' terrible outfield trio — senior Mike Hussa, senior Patrick Sullivan and junior Kyle Messineo. All three are hitting over .350 on the season.

More than anything else, the Hawks, led by their outfielders, manage to keep innings alive. They score a large majority of runs despite little reliance on the long ball; the team high is four homers. The Hawks do, on the other hand, get on base more than most opposing teams would like. The strong outfield, along with two other players, bats over .300 on the season. Another impressive statistic is the team's on-base percentage. The top five players put a bevy of Monmouth uniforms around the white bags with OBPs of over .430.

Containing this lineup will be difficult for the Tigers' pitching staff, which has exhibited both brilliance and mediocrity in an extremely inconsistent opening to the season.

Senior catcher Zach Wendkos thinks that the staff is up to the challenge.

"We have a very solid, deep staff this year," Wendkos said. "All of our pitchers have the ability to keep hitters off balance with a variety of off-speed pitches that they can throw in any count. Every pitcher on our staff also has a good fastball with which they can challenge hitters. Our pitchers have kept us in every game so far this season and will continue do to so throughout Ivy League play."

The margin for error is rapidly diminishing as the Tigers' season progresses. With four league losses already in the books, Princeton needs to find its winning formula quickly. For the Tigers, that means combining a powerful lineup and sharp rotation — a recipe that has worked well in the past.

"Our team has always been about pitching and power hitting," Wendkos said. "We have a bunch of guys who can change the game with just one swing. Our pitching staff is the best in the Ivy League."