Baseball: Mishu leads Tigers to win

In its final midweek game of the season, the baseball team rallied several times for a 12-10 11-inning victory over local rival Rider in a competitive, back-and-forth game. The Tigers (11-27 overall, 5-11 Ivy League) trailed 6-2 after four innings, but the Princeton offense came alive in the second half of the game. Led by freshman outfielder John Mishu and junior designated hitter Brian Berkowitz, the Tigers rallied for a lead, lost it in the ninth inning and then recovered with three runs in the 11th to claim the victory.

Tied 9-9 at the start of the 11th inning, Princeton received RBI hits from Mishu, Berkowitz and junior outfielder Brandon Englert to break the tie. Mishu then pitched the bottom of the inning for his first save of the season.

Rider opened the scoring in the bottom of the second, when the Broncs (20-19) tagged Princeton senior pitcher Ross Staine for two runs on three hits. Staine struggled with his control early in the game and left in the bottom of the fourth after walking the bases loaded. In three-and-one-third innings of work, Staine allowed five run, three earned, on four hits and three walks.

The Tigers were unfazed by the deficit and tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the fourth. Freshman outfielder Nate Baird opened the inning with a walk and scored three batters later on a sacrifice fly off the bat of junior third baseman Matt Connor. Senior second baseman Noel Gonzales-Luna then doubled in freshman first baseman Steve Harrington to knot the game at two.

The real story of the early part of the game, however, was Princeton’s missed offensive opportunities. The Tigers loaded the bases in the first inning but were unable to open the scoring. Furthermore, after tying the game in the fourth inning, the Tigers once again left the bases loaded. In both situations, critical strikeouts from two of Princeton’s better hitters ended the chance for more runs.

Once the Tigers tied the game, the Broncs were quick to answer. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Rider loaded the bases with one out and capitalized on the opportunity. After Staine left, sophomore Ryan Makis surrendered the go-ahead single and then a two-RBI double. Rider took a 6-2 lead after a sacrifice fly later in the inning, a lead it held only briefly.

Princeton continued to put men on base, and after the fourth inning, the critical runs started to come through. The Tigers scored three runs in the fifth inning on RBI hits from Baird, sophomore shortstop Andrew Whitener and Connor. In the sixth inning, Englert hit a solo home run. In the seventh, the Tigers once again capitalized on men in scoring position. After a passed ball broke the 6-6 tie, Berkowitz finished the inning with a two-RBI single to open up a commanding three-point lead.

Yet in this back-and-forth game, no lead was safe for long. Like the Tigers in the middle innings, Rider fought back in the eighth and ninth. Against senior pitcher Matt Grabowski, the Broncs scored three runs in the final two innings to tie the game at nine apiece.

The game stayed scoreless through the first extra inning, but the 11th had a flurry of action. The Tigers broke the tie, as Connor scored on Mishu’s RBI double to right field. Two more hits and a sacrifice fly scored two more runs, pushing the lead to 12-9 in favor of the Tigers.

After knocking in the leading run in the top of the inning, Mishu took the mound to finish off the Broncs.

He held Rider to one unearned run to record his first save of the season. In all, Mishu played centerfield, rightfield and pitcher, and added to his team-leading batting average with four hits on seven at-bats. Grabowski gave up three runs in four innings to record his third victory of the year, while Berkowitz led the Tigers’ offense with three RBIs on three hits.

The length and high scoring of the game caused the Tigers and Broncs to use a total of 13 pitchers, and the game concluded just under four hours after the first pitch.