Baseball: Series loss at Columbia jeopardizes title chances

“I think everyone is disappointed about the weekend,” junior pitcher Dan Barnes said. “We played tough, but Columbia has a strong team, and their field is not an easy place to play at.”

In the first game of the series on Saturday afternoon, Princeton drew first blood against the team that leads the Ivy League in batting average, runs scored and hits. After two scoreless opening innings, junior leftfielder Brandon Englert doubled for the Tigers and was driven in the very next at-bat off a single from sophomore shortstop Andrew Whitener. Whitener eventually went on to score off a sacrifice fly from senior second baseman Noel Gonzales-Luna to conclude what turned out to be Princeton’s only run-scoring inning of the game.

Not to be outdone, the Lions hit back immediately in the bottom of the third off Barnes. After quickly grabbing the first two outs of the inning, Barnes allowed a single up the middle, and another Columbia batsman reached on an error by Whitener. With two on, Columbia second baseman Jon Eisen singled in a run for the Lions before catcher Dean Forthun delivered a bases-clearing double to put his team ahead one.

The rest of the Lions’ damage occurred the next inning, with Barnes getting tagged for four more runs. The right-hander was solely to blame for these runs, allowing back-to-back-to-back home runs from Columbia’s five-six-seven hitters to take the score to 7-2.

The two teams played out the rest of the game scoreless as Barnes took the loss, giving up four earned runs and six hits in six full innings.

“I felt good but didn’t get the results I wanted,” Barnes said about his result. “The home runs they hit were frustrating, because I don’t think they’d go out at our field.”

The second game in Saturday’s doubleheader followed much the same pattern as the first. Princeton came out firing in the opening innings, jumping out to a 3-0 lead by the third. Sophomore catcher Sam Mulroy was responsible for creating all three runs with a two-run shot in the top of the first and a sacrifice fly in the top of the third.

Yet again, the Lions came roaring back, scoring six unanswered runs in the middle three innings off Palms to settle the contest.

“I’ve been disappointed with my starts this season,” Palms said. “This time, I started out better, but I ran out of steam. It was tough for me, because it was a big one we needed to win.”

In the bottom of the fourth, Columbia pulled to within one as a result of an RBI double and RBI single. In the next inning, the Lions put three more on the board from a two-run RBI single and a sacrifice fly before adding a single run in the sixth from an RBI single.

Down 6-3, Princeton tried to fight back and stay in the game, but with only one hit in the final four innings, the team was condemned to its second loss on the afternoon. Palms, who allowed three earned runs on seven hits in five-and-one-third innings, took the loss for the Tigers.

The first game of Sunday afternoon’s doubleheader saw the team’s only bright spot of the weekend. After Columbia grabbed a run in the bottom of the first, Princeton’s bats, which had been practically silent the day before, suddenly came alive. Freshman outfielder John Mishu opened the top of the second with a triple to left field and scored on the next at-bat off a single from senior outfielder Jon Broscious. After Englert singled to right field, junior infielder Matt Connor delivered a three-run blast to put the Tigers up 4-1.

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The next inning, Princeton was back at it again, grabbing an additional two runs off a blast to right-center by Broscious.

This time, the team was able to hold its lead comfortably, thanks to a lights-out performance by freshman starter Zak Hermans. Hermans, who became the first Princeton pitcher to gain a winning record this season, went the distance, allowing one earned run and eight scattered hits in seven innings.

An RBI double by freshman shortstop Alex Flink and a two-run shot by Mulroy put the icing on the cake as the Tigers went on to win 9-3.

Princeton, however, proved unable to capitalize on its first victory of the series as Columbia restored its hegemony in the final game.

The game was settled as a contest by the third inning as Columbia jumped out to an insurmountable 7-0 lead. The Lions were able to score six runs in the bottom of the second from two hits off senior starter Langford Stuber and two Tiger errors.

Princeton vainly tried to fight back but in the end was only able to muster four runs off nine hits. Columbia added two runs in the seventh as the game finished 9-4.