Baseball: Team goes 2-8 in annual week-long spring road trip

Princeton played a total of 10 games in nine days, which gave the Tigers (3-10) an opportunity to test out their lineup for the Ivy League games later on in the season.

“We threw, hit and ran every day during the winter trying to prepare ourselves for [the] spring trip,” sophomore John Mishu said.

The Tigers’ toughness showed. Despite close losses against Holy Cross, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Georgetown University, Princeton picked up wins against Virginia Commonwealth and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. The Tigers dropped the trip’s opener 8-2 to Holy Cross but came back the next day for the only doubleheader of the week, taking on the Holy Cross Crusaders again and VCU.

The Tigers rallied for four runs in the ninth inning against Holy Cross but left the tying and go-ahead runs on base for a 5-4 loss. Junior infielder Andrew Whitner drove in a run with a pinch-hit infield single and freshman shortstop Jonathan York plated another with a single through the right side. Sophomore outfielder Nate Baird followed with a two-run double, but Holy Cross reliever John Colella got Mishu out to end the game.

“I think when we play so many games in such a short period of time, it’s important for us to not let anything negative that happens in an earlier game influence how we play in the following games,” Baird said. “If we are doing well and we are winning, we need to use that momentum to carry us into the following games, but if we lose, we can’t get down on ourselves. We need to have the ability to have a short memory and play each game with the mindset that we are going to win.”

The Tigers earned their first win of the trip in an exciting game against the VCU Rams. Coming from behind to erase a four-run deficit, the Tigers scored three runs in the seventh and the ninth innings to win 16-14. Baird and junior catcher Sam Mulroy combined to drive in seven runs, including a three-run homer from Mulroy. What is more, Whitener, Mishu and freshman first baseman Mike Ford each drove in two while sophomore shortstop Matt Bowman had a run-scoring single in the game as well.

Princeton continued the week with a late-inning loss against No. 12 North Carolina. Sophomore starter Kevin Link held UNC at bay through the sixth inning while Mulroy drove his second home run of the season in the seventh. However, the Tar Heels broke the game in the eighth inning with nine runs to defeat Princeton 11-2.

“I think the biggest problem this week was consistency,” head coach Scott Bradley said. “We had a few glimpses of some really good things, but we need to do a better job at managing [the final] innings and minimize the damage.”

The Tigers saw their second win of the season against North Carolina A&T, defeating the Aggies 4-2. Princeton was scoreless until the fourth inning, when Baird reached first on a walk and Mulroy drove him home with a grounder. The Aggies had hits in the first three innings, but Princeton regained the lead in the sixth. Baird and Bowman scored three of the Tigers’ runs and Ford added the fourth when York tripled to left field.

During the course of the trip, Bradley scripted out the games beforehand to prepare every player for the Ivy League games. After training mostly indoors during the winter, the Tigers have now had the opportunity to test their strengths outside.

The Tigers are now 3-10 heading into a pair of doubleheaders against Navy. This weekend will be structured exactly like the Ivy League games — two games on Saturday and two on Sunday — and will give Princeton a chance to prepare for its league opponents.

“We had a pretty good trip, and we really want to get better,” Bradley said. “We are going to try to really step up this weekend like a league weekend, and let the games dictate the lineup. We are continuing to progress.”