Blowouts balanced by losses

Princeton (14-17 overall, 6-6 Ivy League) pulled out a 10-9 win against the Lions (12-20, 8-4) to open the weekend and took the nightcap, 13-7. The victories improved the Tigers’ record to 12-2 in games in which they have scored six or more runs. Princeton failed to reach that mark in either game on Sunday, losing by tallies of 3-1 and 7-5 and falling to 2-15 on the season in games in which its offense has generated five runs or less.

“In college, you’re not going to win many games when you don’t score a lot of runs because of the metal bats,” junior centerfielder Derek Beckman said. “They can change a game so fast.”

The Tigers looked like they were going to be on the wrong side of that equation in Saturday’s opener, trailing 5-1 to Columbia heading into the top of the fifth inning. Princeton scored four runs in each of the next two innings, however, to take a four-run lead.

In the middle of each rally was junior shortstop Dan DeGeorge, who finished the game a perfect four for four at the plate with three RBI and two runs scored. After Beckman doubled to lead off the top of the fifth inning, DeGeorge singled up the middle to plate Beckman and start the Tiger comeback. Three batters later, DeGeorge scored on a three-run home run by senior third baseman Spencer Lucian, which tied the game at five. The blast was the second of the season for Lucian, who leads Princeton with a scorching .450 batting average.

In the sixth inning, the Tigers jumped ahead on a DeGeorge single that scored Beckman and freshman second baseman Matt Connor. A pair of Columbia fielding errors brought DeGeorge home, and sophomore designated hitter David Hale singled with two outs to add another unearned run.

The Lions stormed back to tie the game at nine with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, but DeGeorge came through for Princeton one last time, driving home the go-ahead run with his fourth single of the day.

Freshman righthander Dan Barnes (2-2) shut down Columbia in the seventh to seal the 10-9 victory, picking up his second career win after an inning and two-thirds of scoreless relief work.

Princeton fell behind again early in the nightcap but used a seven-run outburst in the top of the second to wipe out a 1-0 deficit. Sophomore catcher Jack Murphy provided the biggest hit of the inning, launching a three-run homer over the fence in rightfield to put the Tigers up 7-1. Murphy is tied for the Princeton lead with six round-trippers on the season and leads all Tigers with a .627 slugging percentage and 31 RBI.

Having chased Columbia starter Geoff Whitaker after just two innings of work, Princeton never looked back, leading by as many as 10 runs before closing out the 13-7 win. Six Tigers submitted multi-hit efforts, including sophomore rightfielder Jon Broscious, who homered to center in the third and fourth innings to tie Murphy for the team lead in dingers.

Beckman, Princeton’s leadoff hitter, drove a 1-0 pitch over the centerfield fence in the seventh inning for the first home run of his 102-game Tiger career.

“The way [Columbia’s] park is built, a lot of balls could go out, so I was just looking to get a good at-bat and drive one,” Beckman said. “Everybody knew it was my first one, so that was a pretty good feeling back in the dugout.”

Senior righthander Christian Staehely (4-2) earned the win, gutting his way through seven innings and 124 pitches despite allowing 12 hits and five earned runs.

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The performances on the mound were a lot crisper for both teams in Sunday’s opener, but unfortunately for the Tigers, the pitchers’ duel went to Lions’ starter John Baumann. The six-foot, seven-inch righty — who was also a first-team All-Ivy forward for the Columbia men’s basketball team this season — allowed just three hits and one run over seven innings to lead the Lions to a 3-1 win.

“Baumann is so tall, and he really takes advantage of it by getting a downward plane on his ball trajectory,” Beckman said. “It takes a couple of at-bats to get adjusted, and since it was only a seven-inning game, by the time you get up there for the second or third time, the game is almost over.”

Hale was the tough-luck loser for Princeton, allowing just two earned runs over the course of six strong innings. Hale leads the Tigers with a 2.72 ERA in seven starts, in addition to hitting .287 as a part-time outfielder and designated hitter.

After being shut down by Baumann, Hale and the rest of the Princeton offense looked ready to turn it back on in the final game of the weekend, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning of Sunday’s second game. The Tigers stayed ahead through six-and-a-half innings, with senior righthander Steven Miller pitching his team to a 4-2 lead.

Miller was replaced by Barnes after surrendering a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh, however, and the Lions exploded for a five-run inning. Down three, Princeton could only muster one run against Columbia starter Bill Purdy during the final two innings and went home with a 7-5 loss and a split of the four-game series with the Lions.

Still two games behind Columbia in the Ivy League Gehrig Division, the Tigers will look to put their bats back to work when they take on non-conference opponent Seton Hall today at 3:30 p.m. on Clarke Field.