Lucian leads Ivies with .425 average

In spite of the team’s second-place finish in the Gehrig Division, the Tigers (20-22 overall, 11-9 Ivy League) ended the year on a positive note, winning their final four games.

Throughout the season, Princeton struggled with runners in scoring position, stranding 322 over the course of the season.

The Tigers also fell into the familiar and undesirable pattern of splitting weekends that featured four league games — winning two and losing two for four straight weeks beginning with the start of Ivy League play on March 29 against Dartmouth — until the season’s final weekend.

Six — as in number of runs scored — proved to be the magic number for the Orange and Black. Princeton recruited a bumper crop of freshman pitchers who added depth to both the starting rotation and the bullpen, and six runs of support almost always proved enough for the Tigers’ young hurlers. When scoring fewer than six runs in a game, Princeton was just 5-19, but the Tigers finished 15-3 when plating at least six runners.

With Princeton fighting to remain in the Gehrig Division race in the final weekend of the season, it took three of four games from Cornell.

The highlight of the weekend came Sunday afternoon at Clarke Field, when senior righthander Steven Miller pitched the 13th no-hitter in Princeton history and the first since 1973.

Miller, who led the Tigers with 55 strikeouts over the course of the season, allowed two unearned runs, walked six batters and struck out 10 in seven dominant innings.

In spite of Miller’s efforts and a 19-1 shellacking a day earlier, Princeton nevertheless finished four games behind eventual league champs Columbia in the division.

Princeton opened the season with 17 non-conference road games before returning to Clarke Field at the end of March to begin its Ivy League schedule.

At the plate, Princeton was led by senior third baseman Spencer Lucian and sophomore catcher Jack Murphy, both of whom were named to the All-Ivy team at the close of the season.

Lucian finished the season with a league-leading .425 batting average and a team-leading .511 on-base percentage. Murphy, who led the Tigers in home runs, RBI and slugging percentage, finished with a .391 average.

On the mound, senior righthander Christian Staehely led the way for Princeton, finishing with a 6-2 record. Despite a 4.91 ERA, Staehely netted an impressive 49 strikeouts over 55 innings, allowing only 12 walks. For his efforts, Staehely was named an All-Ivy League honorable mention.

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Junior righthander Brad Gemberling led the Tigers with a 3.60 ERA and netted three complete games in only five starts. Sophomore David Hale also had a successful campaign, garnering three complete games of his own while not allowing a single home run.

Hale was also a force on offense for Princeton. In 29 games, he hit five home runs on his way to batting .339.

Rounding out the Tigers’ All-Ivy selections were junior first baseman Adrian Turnham — who was named to the second team — and junior shortstop Dan DeGeorge, who garnered an honorable mention.