Miller no-hits Cornell in final start

“That was probably the ugliest no-hitter that’s ever been thrown,” Miller said with a grin after his historic 3-2 win over Cornell yesterday. “But to do that in my last collegiate start, that was definitely special.”

Princeton (19-22 overall, 11-9 Ivy League) came into the weekend three games behind first-place Columbia in the standings of the Ivy League’s Gehrig Division, needing an improbable comeback in its final four conference games against the Big Red (12-27, 6-14) to secure a place in the Ivy League championship series. After splitting a doubleheader with Cornell on Friday, the Tigers needed Columbia to drop each of its final four games against Penn just to have a chance at the title.

On Saturday, the Tigers’ championship hopes were dashed when the Lions swept the Quakers to secure their first Gehrig Division title since 1993. That left Princeton and Cornell to play Sunday’s games for seemingly nothing but pride.

“It’s tougher to get pumped up for a game like this, knowing there’s nothing to play for afterwards,” Miller said. “But for the seniors, we knew these were our last games coming up, and I think all the younger guys wanted to come out and play well for us, too, so that was easily enough to get us up for these ones.”

In the first inning of Miller’s start in the opener on Sunday, it looked like the emotions of narrowly missing out on a Gehrig title for the second-straight year might have been getting to him. After retiring the first two hitters of the game, Miller (3-2) walked a batter then saw another reach base on an error before stepping in against Cornell’s Brian Kaufman. In a wild series of events, Kaufman blasted a pitch high above the foul pole in right that cleared the fence but appeared to pass well foul. The first base umpire ruled the hit a three-run home run, however, sending Miller into disbelief and head coach Scott Bradley out onto the field to argue.

“When it came off the bat, I was scared,” Miller said, “but by the time it cleared, I thought it was a clear-cut foul call.”

The umpires conferred and ultimately called Big Red manager Tom Ford out of his dugout to inform him that the call had been reversed. Kaufman came back to the plate after his towering strike and drew a walk to load the bases, which was followed by a hit batsman and another base on balls. Miller finally stranded three runners on base to get out of the inning, but the five Cornell base runners and two unearned runs did not bode well for Princeton’s hopes.

Miller went on to walk three more batters over the course of the day — and also hit two more — but he settled down enough to hold the Big Red scoreless over the final six innings, picking up 10 strikeouts in the process.

Down 2-0 early, the Tiger offense began to chip away at Cornell’s lead with a bloop single by senior leftfielder Micah Kaplan in the fourth inning that scored sophomore catcher Jack Murphy and pulled Princeton to within a run. In the sixth, Murphy reached base again with a single, then scored when senior third baseman Spencer Lucian made up for his first-inning error by blasting a two-run shot into the shrubbery beyond the left centerfield fence.

Miller finished off the 3-2 win without allowing a single Big Red hit, notching the 13th no-hitter in Tiger history and the first since three Princeton pitchers combined for one against Manhattan in 1993. Randy Blevins ’73 was the last Tiger to hurl a complete-game no-hitter, against Columbia 35 years ago this month.

In Sunday’s second game, senior right-hander Christian Staehely (5-2) got the start and matched his classmate Miller with a complete-game performance of his own. Staehely pitched nine efficient innings, throwing 95 pitches and allowing just five hits in a 6-3 victory that secured Princeton a winning Ivy League record.

The Tigers fell behind 3-1 in the fourth inning when Cornell’s Kaufman launched a three-run homer, achieving the very feat that was controversially snatched away from him in the opener. Princeton stormed back into the game with a two-run double by Kaplan, however, and went ahead in the eighth inning on back-to-back blasts by Murphy and Lucian that put the Tigers up for good, 6-3. Murphy and Lucian combined for eight runs and five RBI Sunday, providing the same punch out of the heart of the lineup as they have all season long.

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Unfortunately for Princeton, Sunday’s heroics had no postseason implications, thanks to the disappointing doubleheader split against Cornell on Friday. In the opener, the Tigers took a 5-4 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning but gave up two Big Red runs to let the game slip away.

After freshman reliever David Palms put runners on first and third with no outs, Miller came into the game looking to rescue Princeton from the ninth-inning jam. After issuing a walk to load the bases, Miller fell victim to a squeeze bunt that brought home the tying and winning runs, the second of which scored on a throwing error by freshman second baseman Matt Connor.

The Tigers took out their frustrations from the disappointing 6-5 loss in Friday’s nightcap, punishing the Big Red pitching staff with 21 hits in a 19-1 laugher. Junior starting pitcher Brad Gemberling (2-1) barely needed any of that offensive support, silencing the Cornell bats in a complete-game two-hitter. It was just the second win for Gemberling in a stellar season in which he led all Princeton starters with a 3.60 ERA.

Leading the offensive charge were sophomore designated hitter David Hale, who drove in four runs on three hits, and junior first baseman Adrian Turnham, who went four for seven with three RBI. Every batter in the lineup scored at least one run, including junior shortstop Dan DeGeorge, who touched the plate four times.

Little did the Tigers know that their dominant effort in Friday’s nightcap would be one-upped by an unforgettable performance by Miller on the mound Sunday. The unlikely no-hitter stood out in a three-win weekend that had the Tigers laughing and exchanging high-fives even after all appeared to be lost.

“If you can’t bring home a championship,” Miller said, “it at least feels good to know it ended on a highlight.”