Baseball: Must-win games on the road vs. Penn

Princeton (13-14 overall, 5-7 Ivy League) heads to Philadelphia this weekend for a four-game series against Ivy League cellar-dweller Penn (11-19, 1-11).

Though the two teams’ league records may be far apart, the games promise to be competitive.

“At the beginning of the year, Penn was a team that a lot of people thought was going to win the Ivy League,” head coach Scott Bradley said. “They are a very talented team, and they’ve lost a lot of close games. It’s not like at the end of a Major League season, where you are looking at someone who is 50 games out of first place. Penn is very capable.”

Last weekend, the Tigers got three quality starts from their rotation to take three out of four games against Columbia and vault into a tie for first place in the Gehrig Division.

Princeton will look to its one-two right-handed punch of junior David Hale and senior Brad Gemberling to set the tone in Saturday’s doubleheader.

Hale and Gemberling — widely considered the most dangerous pitching duo in the Ivy League — have yet to win games on the same day in league competition. This can be explained in large part by the dearth of run support Hale has gotten when he has taken the mound this year.

“Lack of run support is an understatement,” Bradley said. “In the Ivy League games, we haven’t scored a single run when [Hale] has pitched. David is probably trying a little too hard knowing that we haven’t scored runs for him. He needs to relax and pitch his game. We’re due to score him some runs.”

Sophomore lefthander David Palms — second in the Ivy League with a 3.23 ERA — and junior lefthander Langford Stuber have added depth to the starting rotation. The two pitchers combined to limit Columbia to five runs in Princeton’s two wins last Monday.

“David Palms is a terrific competitor. Langford Stuber gave us a great performance [against Columbia],” Bradley said. “We expect Gemberling and Hale to pitch the way they can.”

Complementing the Tigers’ rotation is a powerful batting order that is starting to show signs of life after a midseason slump. Princeton scored 15 runs in a non-conference game against Seton Hall on Tuesday.

“The conditions were really rough, but I did feel like we started to swing the bats better,” Bradley said. “Even on some of our outs, a lot of guys made good, solid contact. From top to bottom, I think our guys did a good job concentrating and having good at-bats in awful conditions. Hopefully that will carry over.”

Junior catcher Jack Murphy and sophomore infielder Dan DeGeorge headline a balanced batting order. Murphy, the team’s cleanup hitter, currently leads the team with 24 RBI and is tied for the team lead with four home runs. DeGeorge has been the Tigers’ most consistent performer at the plate with a .345 batting average.

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“It wouldn’t surprise me in the last eight games if we play in a lot of close games,” Bradley said. “We need to get defense and timely hits.”

The Quakers’ starting rotation — led by 2007 Ivy League Rookie of the Year Todd Roth — will force the Tigers to be diligent and opportunistic at the plate.

“They have four capable starters who can shut teams down,” Bradley said. “Offensively, they are pretty balanced and can get a lot of production from top to bottom.”

Infielder Will Gordon and outfielder Jeremy Maas will look to give the Tigers’ rotation headaches all weekend.

Gordon currently sits atop the Ivy League with eight home runs, and Maas is tied for the league lead with a .389 batting average.

“We don’t do a whole lot of scouting in our league,” Bradley said. “I know they have some good athletes. They don’t run a lot, but they can swing and have some good pitchers.”

Princeton needs to overcome these challenges to extend its four-game winning streak.

With the Ivy League season more than halfway finished, every game has the ability to make or break a team’s season.

“There are two weeks left in the season. You cannot look past anything,” Bradley said. “There are eight games left. Any of the three teams [tied for first in the Gehrig Division] are thinking you need to win six out of eight to get to the Ivy championships.”

With the season hitting the homestretch, the Tigers know what it will take to make it to the Ivy League championship.

“They know exactly what’s in store for them,” Bradley said. “It’s the exact same approach that we’ve had to every weekend all year. They don’t need me to tell them anything. We need to make plays, advance runners and play well with two outs.”