Baseball: Destiny is in Tigers' own paws

The baseball team, however, will play what amounts to an unofficial league semifinal this weekend.

Princeton (16-16 overall, 8-8 Ivy League) faces Cornell (13-19, 8-8) in a four-game series that will likely determine the league’s Gehrig Division winner.

The two teams will play a Friday doubleheader at Clarke Field before heading across state lines to Ithaca, N.Y., for two more games Sunday.

The team that wins three out of four games will earn a berth to next weekend’s Ivy League Championship Series.

“[The] guys feel really fortunate knowing that it’s up to us. It’s not up to somebody else [to determine the division title],” head coach Scott Bradley said. “They’re really excited to come out and put themselves in a position to compete and play meaningful games with a real prize at the end of it.”

The Tigers had their backs against the wall early in the league season: The first two weekends of league play, Princeton lost six out of eight games to opponents from the Rolfe Division.

Since then, the Tigers have rattled off six of eight league games to put themselves back in the race for the Ivy League title.

“Our mindset when we came into the Gehrig portion was that nobody was running away from the pack,” Bradley said. “We knew we were right there, and we knew we were going to play four-game series against each of the teams in our division.”

“We knew, if we won three out of four in each series, that it would give us a chance to win the division,” he added. “We were fortunately in a position that nobody in our half ran away so far that we couldn’t get ourselves back into it.”

In an up-and-down season, Princeton’s pitching staff has often kept the team afloat. The Tigers’ roster currently leads the Ivy League in ERA by more than one run.

Princeton also boasts one of the league’s biggest surprises in sophomore leftander David Palms. Projected as a middle-of-the-rotation starter, Palms has thrown three consecutive complete league games and currently leads the league with a 2.74 ERA.

Palms has combined with senior righthander Brad Gemberling — the league leader in strikeouts — and junior righthander David Hale to form one of the Ancient Eight’s most fearsome rotations.

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“Our pitching is starting to really come around,” Bradley said. “Our guys are confident knowing that our pitchers are going to give us a chance.”

As consistent as the Tigers’ pitching has been, their batting order has been something of an enigma. Though Princeton has one of the deepest and most experienced lineups in the Ivy League, it has yet to have a weekend in which the entire order has played to its potential.

“We’ve really just been inconsistent,” Bradley said. “It’s been a stretch where one weekend [junior outfielder Jon] Broscious is really hot, and the next weekend he struggles. One weekend [junior catcher Jack] Murphy is really good, and the next weekend he struggles. It’s been bits and pieces of the team.”

Senior infielder Dan DeGeorge has been the Tigers’ most consistent hitter. DeGeorge currently leads Princeton with a .368 batting average and sits atop the league standings with 49 hits. Senior outfielder Derek Beckman has provided a spark from team’s leadoff spot with 37 hits and a team-leading eight steals.

“I still don’t think we’ve really had a weekend yet where we put everything together like we feel we can,” Bradley said. “We’ve won some games and put ourselves in a good position, but we’re still looking for that one weekend where everything clicks for us.”

“We haven’t had a weekend yet where all the guys in the middle of the lineup have really been swinging the bats well at the same time,” he added.

After spending most of April living on the brink of elimination, Princeton should have the mental toughness necessary to make a run at the league title.

“We knew that we couldn’t look past every weekend we played,” Bradley said. “If we had one slip up [our season could end]. That makes us a mentally stronger team because every time our guys were on the field, they knew that a mistake could be one they were not able to make up.”

Cornell has traveled a similar path to the brink of the Ivy League Championship Series, going 2-6 against the Rolfe Division before taking six of eight against Columbia and Penn. Outfielder Brian Billigen and infielder Nathan Ford lead the Big Red offense. Billigen is currently second in the Ivy League with a .386 batting average, and Ford boasts seven home runs on the season.

With clear skies and 70-degree weather forecasted, the stage is set for the Tigers to take the final step in their late-season run to the league championship.

“We accomplished goal one by taking three of four from Columbia. We accomplished goal two by taking three of four against Penn,” Bradley said. “And now this is the last step. The prize is there for whatever team plays the best baseball.”