Three the hard way

Sometimes better isn't quite good enough. Against Cornell this weekend, for the first time all season, the baseball team won three games of a four-game series. But a heartbreaking, 12-inning loss to Cornell in Game 4 dashed the Tigers' postseason hopes just when they seemed brightest. Despite the loss, the Tigers did not trail for a single at-bat throughout the series.

Princeton (15-23 overall, 11-9 Ivy League) came into the weekend needing to sweep the Big Red (15-23, 8-12) to force a one-game playoff with Penn for the Ivy League's Gehrig Division title. After winning both games of a doubleheader at Clarke Field on Saturday, the Tigers won the opener in Ithaca, N.Y., yesterday to move to within one win of pulling off the miracle.

Early in the series' crucial fourth game, Princeton seemed well on its way to a date with the Quakers. The Tigers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning thanks to a home run by freshman leftfielder Greg Van Horn. After Cornell responded with three runs in the bottom of the third, senior third baseman Sal Iacono put Princeton back on top, 4-3, with a solo home run in the fifth inning.

The Big Red tied the game at four in the bottom of the inning, but senior righthander Eric Walz took over from there, shutting down Cornell for the next six innings.

The Tigers, meanwhile, had their best opportunity to break the tie in the top of the ninth. Van Horn doubled to lead off the inning and senior second baseman Aaron Prince was hit by a pitch. Iacono then singled to load the bases, but Cornell reliever Blake Hamilton escaped the jam by retiring the next three Princeton batters.

"With the bases loaded and no out, with [sophomore catcher] Jack [Murphy] up, we expected to get at least one," Iacono said. "But [Hamilton] came in there and made some good pitches."

From there, the game headed into extra innings, with neither team able to mount much offense until the Big Red came to bat in the bottom of the 12th inning. Having already pitched 11 innings of neck-and-neck baseball, Walz got Cornell's leadoff hitter to fly out. Unfortunately for the Tigers, Walz's remarkable evening then unraveled. After a single, a double and an intentional walk, Cornell's Ry Kagan hit a game-winning single to right-centerfield, lifting his team to a 5-4 victory.

"You hate to lose a game like that," Iacono said. "We had the feeling that we were gonna take that game, but we just didn't have enough to pull it out."

Walz finished the game with 146 pitches thrown, allowing 14 hits and striking out five in what will likely be the last start of his career. Classmate Iacono finished with five hits in the game, lifting his team-high batting average to a stunning .424 clip.

"I was doing everything I could to prolong the season," Iacono said. "To perform like that was great, but I would rather go 0-for-6 and win."

The Tigers were only in position to play meaningful games yesterday because of a pair of wins Saturday. Princeton won the opener against the Big Red 7-5 behind two home runs from freshman catcher Jack Murphy. The Tigers also received a strong pitching performance from sophomore righthander Brad Gemberling.

Princeton was able to get out in front early, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning. After a single from Prince and a double from Iacono, Murphy hit his fifth home run of the season over the rightfield fence.

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Murphy hit another home run, a solo shot, in the bottom of the third to extend the Princeton lead to four. The Tigers also added insurance runs in the fourth and sixth, taking a 7-2 lead into the top of the seventh inning.

Though Cornell began a comeback in the final inning, scoring three runs, Gemberling held onto the Tiger lead, improving his record to 3-0 on the season. Gemberling finished his complete game, allowing five runs, seven hits and a walk while striking out six.

With the first of the four necessary wins in hand, Princeton turned in a similarly impressive performance in Saturday's nightcap. Instead of using the longball as they did in game one, however, the Tigers needed some small ball to hold off the Big Red.

Princeton drew first blood, scoring a run in its first time at bat when Prince doubled and Iacono knocked him in with a single. In the third, Van Horn reached on an infield single and later scored on a wild pitch to make the score 2-0. A pair of Murphy singles in the fifth and seventh innings extended the Princeton lead to four.

Those insurance runs proved crucial. After throwing seven shutout innings, punctuated by seven strikeouts, junior righthander Steven Miller began to tire in the eighth with his pitch count climbing over 100. After allowing a lead-off single, Miller walked the next two batters, prompting manager Scott Bradley to dip into his bullpen.

Miller's replacement, junior righthander Christian Staehely allowed all three inherited runners to scor, but was able to stop the bleeding thereafter and preserve a 4-3 lead. Staehely had a far less eventful ninth inning, allowing just one hit before shutting down the Big Red, earning him his first save of the season.

With their weekend job halfway done, the Tigers traveled to Ithaca yesterday needing to repeat their doubleheader sweep.

The Tigers kept their hopes alive by winning the first game of the doubleheader, 7-5, once again jumping out to an early lead over Cornell.

Princeton plated two runners in the first, punctuated by a run-scoring double from junior centerfielder Spencer Lucian. The Tigers extended their lead to 3-0 when freshman first baseman Brian Berkowitz led off the top of the second inning with his second home run in as many weekends.

Unlike Saturday's games, however, the Big Red fought back immediately, scoring two runs in the bottom of the second. The Tigers waited a couple innings to respond, when Murphy, continuing his hot weekend, doubled in a pair of runs in the fifth to make the score 5-2 in favor of the Tigers.

Princeton added another two insurance runs in the top of the seventh, which proved valuable as Cornell came back with three in the bottom half of the inning. With the tying run at the plate, freshman righthander David Hale got the final Cornell batter to fly out to close the 7-5 victory.

Hale finished with a six-hit complete game, striking out five and improving his record to 3-2 in his rookie campaign.

While Hale appears to have a bright future ahead of him as a Tiger, his senior teammates — from Iacono to Walz to Prince — now know their Princeton careers will end sooner than they had hoped.

"You look at this weekend and it's clear the team showed a lot," Iacono said. "I'm really proud of everybody."

The Tigers will end the 2007 season against Rider at Clarke Field on Wednesday.