Princeton falls after stranding 13 on base

Despite a solid outing from sophomore lefthander Langford Stuber and a 3-1 lead through six innings, Princeton was unable to hold on, losing at Clarke Field for the third time this season.

“We talked about [stranding runners] after the game, and it’s been something that’s really hurt us all year,” head coach Scott Bradley said. “We had a couple chances to get a big hit and score some runs, but we just didn’t make it happen.”

The game started well for the Tigers, as junior centerfielder Derek Beckman led off by reaching on an error before promptly stealing second base and advancing to third base on a poor throw from the Monmouth catcher. After junior shortstop Dan DeGeorge was hit by a pitch, junior first baseman Adrian Turnham hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to plate Beckman.

Sophomore catcher Jack Murphy and senior third baseman Spencer Lucian each added singlesto score DeGeorge from second.

The 2-0 lead looked to be more than enough for Stuber, who allowed a run in the top of the second before settling down. The southpaw finished with two strikeouts and only one run allowed in his five innings of work.

“He was really pitching well,” Bradley said. “He has that good two-seam sinking fastball and ended up with nine ground-ball outs … but 87 pitches was more than he’s thrown all year, and we try to use these mid-week games to get some other guys some experience.”

Princeton added another run in the bottom of the third when Lucian doubled home Murphy for his second RBI of the game.

Murphy would finish the game with four hits, while Lucian, who began the day leading the team in batting average at .492, added three of his own.

“Those guys have been doing it all year long,” Bradley said. “They’re both over .400 for the season, but we don’t have another .300 hitter, and when you’re playing college baseball with aluminum bats, that makes it hard.”

Already up 3-1 in the fifth inning, the Tigers had a chance to add to their lead when they loaded the bases with only one out. With starter Brett Connor struggling, Monmouth head coach Dean Ehehalt called on ace reliever Nick Vallillo, who retired sophomore designated hitter David Hale and sophomore right fielder Jon Broscious to end the threat.

In the sixth, Princeton would again put two runners in scoring position, but Vallillo once again worked out of the jam, retiring Turnham to stave off the Tiger rally.

“We sat on our front foot with his changeup,” Bradley said. “He just got us to hit a lot of lazy balls in the air. … It’s one thing for that to work for an inning or two, but we had to do a much better job in terms of making adjustments.”

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After working a scoreless inning of relief for Stuber in the sixth, freshman righthander Matt Welsh struggled with his control to begin the seventh. Welsh walked the first two batters before a sacrifice bunt put both of them in scoring position.

Monmouth followed with a pair of singles and a double to plate three runners and give the Hawks a 4-3 lead.

With the Tigers unable to answer in the bottom half of the inning, Monmouth added to its lead in the eighth. Freshman righthander Matt Grabowski recorded just one out while allowing two hits and a walk before being pulled in favor of classmate Dan Barnes.

With the bases loaded and only one out, Barnes walked the first batter he faced and, after recording an out, surrendered a two-run single to give Monmouth a 7-3 lead. Princeton finally worked itself out of the jam when a botched Hawk double-steal ended the inning.

“We knew we wanted [Barnes] to pitch an inning, and if everything had worked according to plan, he would have pitched in the ninth with a 3-1 lead,” Bradley said. “But we thought if we could get out of that jam with just a one-run deficit that would be a chance worth taking.”

After stranding another runner in the eighth and receiving a one-two-three inning of relief work from freshman righthander Tim Feess, Princeton looked to claw its way back in the bottom of the ninth.

Down to their last out after pop-outs from Turnham and Murphy, the Tigers began to rally. Lucian doubled to right-center off Vallillo, and Hale followed with a single up the middle, but pitcher Justin Esposito entered to close out the game.