There was no Peter Fonda — and a lot fewer motorcycles — but if the baseball team’s season finale had been a movie, the title unquestionably would have been “Easy Rider.”
Playing only 10 minutes away from campus in nearby Lawrenceville, the Tigers exploded for eight runs in the second inning yesterday en route to an effortless 14-3 victory over a talented Rider team. Sophomore designated hitter David Hale led the offensive onslaught with a grand slam, while sophomore starting pitcher Langford Stuber (3-3) picked up the win with five innings of one-run ball.
Princeton (20-22 overall, 11-9 Ivy League) was playing in its final game of the season after it finished second to Columbia in the Ivy League’s Gehrig Division and missed out on the postseason for the second-straight year. The Broncs (24-17), who are still in the running for a title in the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference, were in the middle of final exam week.
Early in the game, both lineups looked ready to take out their respective frustrations on the opposing pitchers, as Stuber and Rider counterpart Ryan Miller were each tagged for runs in the first inning. The junior table-setting tandem of centerfielder Derek Beckman and shortstop Dan DeGeorge did their job leading off the Princeton half of the opening inning, stringing together consecutive hits and scoring to give the Tigers an early 2-0 lead.
The Broncs grabbed back one of those runs in the bottom of the first when Stuber gave up two singles and hit a batter, but the lefty settled down from there and held Rider scoreless over his final four innings of work. With the victory, Stuber finishes the season as one of just three Tiger pitchers to have recorded three or more wins, joining senior starters Christian Staehely (6-2) and Steven Miller (3-2).
But despite Stuber’s best efforts, offense was the story of the day at Sonny Pittaro Field. Each team churned out 11 hits, but only Princeton was able to capitalize consistently with runners on base.
The Tigers put on a clinic in offensive efficiency in the second inning, managing to plate eight runs on just one base hit. After the first three Princeton batters of the inning drew walks to chase the Broncs’ starter from the game, sophomore second baseman Noel Gonzales-Luna put Princeton up 3-1 with a sacrifice fly. Beckman was then hit by a pitch, and another trio of walks left the Tigers ahead by five runs. Two batters later, Hale turned the game into a blowout before Rider could even take its second turn at bat, homering to left center with the bases loaded to make the score 10-1.
It was the sixth home run of 2008 for the versatile Hale, who also made nine starts on the pitcher’s mound this season, picking up a pair of victories.
Princeton wasn’t done after its big second inning, adding three more runs in the third to go up by a dozen runs and force Rider to bring in its fourth pitcher of the game. Senior leftfielder Micah Kaplan, playing in his last game as a Tiger, led off the third inning with his third home run of the season. Classmate Spencer Lucian — indispensable for Princeton all season long at third base and in the heart of the batting order — put Princeton up 13-1 with a two-run double to right center. Lucian’s batting average for the season was a team-best .417.
The Tigers tacked on one final run in the fourth inning when sophomore rightfielder Jon Broscious doubled to lead things off, then scored on a Beckman two-bagger two batters later. Beckman finished the day with a team-high three runs to go along with two hits and an RBI.
Down 14-1, the Broncs held Princeton scoreless the rest of the way and picked up runs in the eighth and ninth innings, but the Tigers could easily afford to cool off. In a trying season, Princeton’s ride to its 20th and final win was among the easiest of them all.
