With runners in scoring position, Tigers strike out

After a fast start to the season, the Tigers (7-9) were reeled back in, going 1-8 over the midterm break. The losses were largely due to inconsistency on the offensive side, as the Tigers too often left men in scoring position as innings drew to a close.

“We scored two or less runs in six of the nine games we played, and it is very difficult to win without some offense,” head coach Scott Bradley said.

Oddly enough, in their lone win of the week over the Naval Academy, the Tigers scored 20 runs. The 2008 team entered the history books with the win, setting a school record for hits in a single game with 27. This breaks the previous record of 24, which was set against Monmouth during the 1992 season. While the Tigers only scored six runs in the rest of the Navy series, they lit it up for one game, showing the offensive firepower that was the hallmark of their first six wins.

“I think a main reason why we blew out Navy in one game yet we were unable to win any other games was that we went into that game extremely focused,” junior outfielder Andrew Doupe said. “It was the second game of the doubleheader; we had just come off of a tough loss, so we came out focused and ready to go, and we played well as a result.”

Doupe was representative of the Tiger effort, going three for four with a double and a home run. He also had a stolen base and was hit by a pitch, though he struggled for the majority of the trip. Doupe’s work was furthered by senior infielder Spencer Lucian, who went six for seven at the plate with four RBI, and sophomore catcher Jack Murphy, who went three for seven with five RBI, a home run and a double.

Two of the other three Navy games were classic pitchers’ duels. In game two, Princeton sophomore David Hale went seven and one-third innings, giving up only two hits, and freshman Matt Welsh gave up an unearned run in the eighth. On the Navy side, hurler Mark McCoy went the distance, allowing only six scattered hits and earning the 2-1 win.

“My arm feels great right now and the main thing that I am working on is consistently being able to hit the spots with all my pitches,” Hale said.

Sunday’s final game had the same hitting disparities as Saturday’s first game. The Tigers earned five more hits than the Midshipmen but still lost by one. On the mound, junior Brad Gemberling allowed only one hit in three innings of work, and senior Steve Miller relieved Gemberling in the third for six innings of six-hit baseball.

Earlier in the week, The Tigers faced some stiff competition against UNC-Greensboro and UNC-Chapel Hill.

The USA Today Coaches Poll ranks the North Carolina Tar Heels No. 3 in the nation. With a staff full of “junkball” pitchers who mixed in a tough series of controlled breaking pitches, the Tar Heels lived up to their ranking. They beat the Tigers 7-0 in the first game, allowing only three hits. These were all singles, earned by Murphy, junior catcher Adrian Turnham and junior catcher Spencer Lucian, who hit third, fourth and fifth in the order. The Tigers scored two runs in the second game, as Murphy opened the game with a two-run homer, but the Tigers still could not find their stride and lost 8-2.

“Turnham, Lucian and Murphy have been very good and have also been very consistent [all week]. Hale has also been swinging the bat well. Our pitching, as expected, has been very good and will keep us in games,” Bradley said.

In the first series of the week, Princeton dropped three games to UNC-Greensboro, 7-2, 10-5 and 13-2. Sophomore outfielder Jon Broscious began a solid week with hits in both games and a scoreless relief appearance. Princeton matched Greensboro with 11 hits in two of three games, but again Princeton could not get the runs home, leaving too many runners on base.

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The Tigers will have one more chance to work out the kinks in the batting order in their last non-conference matchup, as they battle the Rutgers Scarlet Knights for Garden State supremacy.