Baseball: In downpour, offensive outpour

With this winning streak, Princeton hopes that the offensive struggles of its first two Ivy League weekends are now behind them.

“We competed in just awful conditions,” head coach Scott Bradley said. “We were lucky that Seton Hall had FieldTurf, but it was cold and rainy the entire game.”

The Tigers (13-15 overall, 5-7 Ivy League) scored early and often against Seton Hall (15-15), holding an 8-1 lead after the third inning. The early lead was capped by a five-run third inning, in which Princeton plated five runs on only three hits and was aided by two Seton Hall errors.

After junior outfielder Jon Broscious reached on a throwing error by Seton Hall infielder Ed Brown, junior designated hitter Brian Berkowitz hit another double to bring Broscious home. This was followed up by yet another double from senior infielder Adrian Turnham, who scored Berkowitz. The Orange and Black added two more runs on a single from senior outfielder Derek Beckman.

“Everyone really swung the bat well today,” Broscious said. “We all got a little more relaxed and had a little more confidence after last weekend.”

Sophomore righthander Tim Feess started the game for the Tigers and pitched four great innings, giving up only one unearned run in that stretch. But Feess ran into a rough patch in the fifth inning, when a combination of timely hits, untimely errors and a walk got him into trouble. He was replaced by freshman righthander Ryan Makis after recording one out in the fifth, but Makis gave up another three runs, all unearned. It looked as if Makis would get out of the inning after giving up only one run, but an error by Turnham allowed two runs to score, and so the Tigers’ lead was cut to one run.

“Feess and Makis and Grabowski all did a great job of battling a really slippery mound,” Bradley said.

In the sixth, Princeton added two more runs, both off a triple from junior catcher Jack Murphy. Murphy, who leads the team in RBI with 24, plated both sophomore infielder Greg Van Horn and senior infielder Dan DeGeorge. The Pirates showed some fight, however, scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game up at 10.

Again, the Tigers rose to the challenge, scoring five runs in the top of the seventh inning. Sophomore infielder Matt Connor led off the inning with a double, and a walk to freshman outfielder Tom Boggiano combined with a bunt single from Beckman loaded the bases. A single from DeGeorge, along with RBI groundouts from Murphy and Van Horn, brought the score to 13-10. But Princeton was not done, as it extended its lead to 15-10 with an impressive two-out rally.

“I see some signs that [players] have made some adjustments at the plate, which goes a long way in terms of confidence,” Bradley said.

After Makis gave up two runs in the eighth, the lead was cut to three, but sophomore closer Matt Grabowski came on for the four-out save opportunity. Grabowski retired all of his batters to record an easy save.

This win marks the last tuneup for the Tigers before they enter a crucial four-game series against woeful Penn this weekend. Princeton did what it had to do last weekend, taking three out of four from Columbia to enter a three-way tie for first place in the Gehrig Division, but it will have a chance to take sole possession in the division standings starting Saturday. Penn has a 1-11 record against its Ancient Eight foes, and the Tigers could conceivably take all four games from the Quakers this weekend. This would put Princeton in prime position for the Ivy League Championship Series.