Baseball: Aces fuel three-win weekend

It would be hard to find better words to describe Princeton’s weekend series against Columbia. The Tigers (12-15 overall, 5-7 Ivy League) used three consecutive quality pitching performances to take three of four games against the Lions (8-24, 5-7) at Clarke Field and move into a three-way tie for first place in the Gehrig Division.

“These games were really important,” senior infielder Dan DeGeorge said. “We had to win three out of four games to stay in the hunt … It was do or die.”

Entering the series already two games down in the division, Princeton dug itself into an even bigger hole in its first game.

Junior righthander David Hale had his worst outing of the year Sunday afternoon. Hale struggled with his control, giving up eight runs and walking five in less than two innings of work in an 8-0 loss.

The second inning proved to be Hale’s undoing. After he walked the first two batters, second baseman Jon Eisen laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt, and Hale’s throw went into right-field foul territory, allowing two runners to score on the play.

Columbia’s eight runs in the first two innings would be more than enough insurance for pitcher Joe Scarlata. The Lions’ ace limited Princeton to four hits in a seven-inning shutout. Scarlata dominated the Tigers’ lineup, striking out seven and never allowing more than one runner to reach base in an inning.

“It’s tough when you lose the first game,” DeGeorge said. “We had to win three out of three, but we didn’t get down. The team had a good attitude.”

After being held scoreless in two consecutive games, Princeton’s bats jumped to life in the nightcap. The Tigers hit three home runs and racked up 13 hits in an 11-4 win. Senior righthander Brad Gemberling struck out 12 batters and gave up only three runs for his fourth win of the season.

“We always try to talk about the weekend as a series,” head coach Scott Bradley said. “[Earlier in the year] at Navy, we lost the first game and came back to win the next three. We have two weekends left and three teams with the same record.”

Junior catcher Jack Murphy launched a three-run home run to right center in the third inning to give Princeton a 4-1 lead. The Tigers would tack on runs in the next three innings to stretch the lead to 9-1. Junior outfielder Jon Broscious hit two home runs and added three RBI to lead the charge.

“When you play college baseball, you really need to be able to get some runs without getting two or three hits in a row,” Bradley said. “Jon is a really streaky player. He can go from struggling to hitting three home runs in one day pretty quickly.”

With the series tied at one game apiece, sophomore lefthander David Palms had another solid outing in leading Princeton to a 3-2 win. Palms scattered six hits and allowed only one earned run for the seven-inning complete-game win — his third of the season.

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Murphy drew a two-out walk to reach base and start the Tigers’ rally. Junior designated hitter Brian Berkowitz then hit a single to right field in the bottom of the sixth inning to score Murphy with the winning run.

Broscious’ third home run of the weekend — a rocket shot off the scoreboard in left field — started the scoring for Princeton in the third. One inning later, Murphy ripped a double down the right field line to score DeGeorge and put the Tigers ahead 2-1.

Columbia’s best chance to tie the game came in the top of the sixth inning. An error and a walk gave the Lions runners on first and second with no outs. Yet Columbia could muster only one run before Princeton regained the lead during its next trip to the plate. Palms proceeded to retire three straight batters in the seventh to clinch the win.

Not to be outdone by his fellow southpaw, junior lefthander Langford Stuber had his best outing of the year in the series finale. Stuber worked into the ninth inning — limiting the Lions to seven hits while striking out six batters to lead Princeton to a 5-3 win.

“The pitching was great this weekend,” Bradley said. “You can’t give enough praise to Langford Stuber and David Palms. To start the day knowing we needed to win both games and to have those two performances was phenomenal.”

The Tigers scored all their runs in the first inning. A leadoff walk to senior outfielder Derek Beckman and an error on a sacrifice from DeGeorge gave Princeton two base runners with no outs. After a fielder’s choice moved Beckman to third base, Murphy hit a hard shot up the middle that bounced off the glove of pitcher Harrison Slutsky and scored Beckman.

Two batters later, Berkowitz crushed a double to right field to knock in two runs. A sacrifice fly from senior infielder Adrian Turnham and a single from Hale extended the Tigers’ lead to 5-1.

“We scored five runs early, and we made every run count,” Bradley said. “We’re still searching for that one weekend when everything clicks.”

Though Columbia relief pitcher Roger Aquino shut Princeton down for the rest of the game, the Lions could muster only two more runs off Stuber and sophomore relief pitcher Matt Grabowski.

“Those were two hard-fought, close games,” Bradley said. “Our infield defense has been much improved the last three weeks.”

With the defense rounding into shape and the strongest pitching roster in the Ivy League, it is up to Princeton’s batting lineup to provide the extra spark that could propel the team to the league title it so desperately craves.