Penn loss keeps baseball in the race for Ivy League Gehrig Division playoff

When the baseball team traveled to Jamaica, N.Y., for a midweek tuneup Tuesday night, its opponent was the St. John's Red Storm. In the dugout, however, all eyes were on the Penn-Cornell doubleheader being played some 250 miles away.

"We had a couple guys getting text-message updates about the [Penn-Cornell] games while we were taking batting practice and through the first couple innings of our game," senior third baseman Sal Iacono said. "Obviously, we had a lot riding on those two games, so we were all interested in how it would turn out."

The Tigers (12-22 overall, 8-8 Ivy League) needed the Big Red (14-20, 7-9) to beat the Gehrig Division-leading Quakers (20-17, 12-8) in at least one of the two games Tuesday night to have any chance of making the postseason. Penn took the first game but lost the second in 12 innings, leaving Princeton in the hunt for the Gehrig Division title.

Now, the Tigers must win all four of their remaining games — starting with a doubleheader against Cornell at Clarke Field tomorrow and followed by a pair of games against the Big Red in Ithaca, N.Y., on Sunday — to force a one-game playoff with Penn for a chance to play in the Ivy League Championship.

"That Penn loss [Tuesday] was huge," said Iacono, who will play in the final regular-season Ivy League games of his career this weekend. "It kept us in the running for the league championship, which has been the goal all along."

As it stands right now, the odds of the Tigers making the postseason are slim, but if last Sunday's series with the first-place Quakers is any indication of how Princeton plans on ending its season, this weekend could prove to be a nail-biter.

A week ago the Tigers drove to Philadelphia for two crucial doubleheaders against Penn. Princeton was outscored 17-5 on the way to losing both games Saturday, but — with a spot in the postseason on the line — battled back Sunday. The Tigers took the opener 7-3, then rattled off 10 unanswered runs in the nightcap to come back from a 6-0 deficit and complete the sweep.

"The win was huge in so many ways," Iacono said of the final game. "It showed us that no matter the opponent, we are never completely out of a game. This team has to know that it can do that in any situation, and it certainly boosts our confidence heading into this weekend."

As for how they will deal with Cornell, the Gehrig Division's last place squad, the Tigers are trying not to get ahead of themselves.

"We will approach the Cornell games one at a time," head coach Scott Bradley said. "We have no margin of error, so we will not make pitching decisions until each game is completed."

Sophomore right-handed pitcher Brad Gemberling — who tossed five innings of one-hit ball against the Quakers last Sunday — will start the first game at Clarke Field tomorrow at noon, but there will be no other guarantees in terms of who will pitch and when. Senior ace Eric Walz — who pitched a complete game against Penn — would be a logical choice to follow Gemberling tomorrow, but that could easily change depending on what happens in the opener.

What is guaranteed is that the Tiger bats will be ready for the Big Red pitching staff. On the year, Cornell has been the Ivy League's fourth-best staff, but its pitchers struggled mightily Tuesday against Penn, surrendering 23 runs and 27 hits in just two games.

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"Our bats have really come alive recently," said Iacono, who is fourth in the Ivy League in both batting average and RBI. "I'm real confident in our ability to score runs."

Junior outfielder Spencer Lucian will enter the game as perhaps the hottest Tiger. Lucian was six-for-nine with two runs and two RBI in last Sunday's sweep of Penn, and he continued his hot streak Tuesday with two hits and a run scored. On the year Lucian is batting .335, an average only bested by sophomore designated hitter Adrian Turnham and Iacono.

Iacono has been the team's most consistent hitter, batting .385 with a team-leading four home runs and 31 RBI. To finish the weekend with four wins, though, Princeton will need production from its entire lineup, not just a few key hitters.

"The middle of our lineup — Lucian, Turnham, [freshman first baseman Brian] Berkowitz — must hit for us to have a chance [of sweeping]," Bradley said. "Iacono has been great all year, but the guys hitting behind him must come through."

Princeton's pitching — expected before the season to be the team's most experienced and reliable component — has struggled at times this year but has been excellent recently.

The staff has a team earned run average of 5.60, good enough for fifth in the Ivy League, but was masterful in Sunday's doubleheader against Penn, giving up only six earned runs in two games.

Big Red batters are hitting only .263, second worst in the league, but like all teams, Cornell has the potential to be very dangerous. Catcher Nathan Ford leads the team with a .337 batting average and 25 RBI, while infielder Jimmy Heinz is tops among Big Red batters with four homers and 25 runs scored.

Needless to say, the stage is set for Princeton to accomplish something incredible this weekend. Last Sunday, the Tigers needed to win twice to keep their season alive. They won twice. On Tuesday they needed Penn to lose at least once to keep their season alive. Penn lost once. Now Princeton needs to sweep four straight games against Cornell to earn a playoff with the stingy Quakers.

The results? Yet to be played out, but ask any Tiger — say, Iacono — and he will give you the same answer.

"This is our entire season," Iacono said, "and we are going to do everything we can to ensure it doesn't end this weekend."