Baseball: Tigers split break set, await start of Ivy play

Princeton opened its break at Richmond, where the Tigers won two out of three games, including one by a score of 21-14. Princeton then lost to North Carolina and UNC-Greensboro before beating Navy in two of three games.

The Tigers are lead on offense by power-hitting senior catcher and outfielder Sam Mulroy, who has an impressive .397 batting average and leads the team with five home runs and 20 RBIs. Mulroy has been a big story so far this season, and this past week was no exception. Mulroy excelled in the victory at Richmond, racking up four hits and six RBIs.

One pitcher who has really shone so far for the Tigers has been junior right-hander Kevin Link, who gave up only one run and seven hits in eight innings in a win against Navy.

“In my start against Navy I felt I did a good job of commanding the lower half of the strike zone with two-seam fastballs and changeups,” Link said. “I had a rough first inning locating my fastball, but after that Sammy called a great game behind the plate, we forced a lot of groundballs and the infield was able to turn a few double plays.”

As Ivy League play approaches, a key to Princeton’s success this season will be building early leads. The Tigers scored first in three of their four wins this past week. The only game in which they did not score first was the one Link started against the Midshipmen. Even so, Link described the importance of early run support.

“The offense put up four runs in the second inning, which allowed me and Sam to pitch with a lead, throwing a lot of strikes and just pitching to contact,” Link said.

One theme from the week was that Princeton’s hitting looked ahead of its pitching.

“Since our spring trip started, I’m most happy about the way our offense has really picked up, especially in our series win against Richmond,” Link said. “The bats really picked up our pitching staff that weekend, and it was a good way to get our trip started.”

The Tigers were involved in several high-scoring games this past week, including a few at Richmond. The Spiders were not held to less than nine runs, and Princeton posted 21 and 15 runs in back-to-back games. Although victories are always a positive, the pitching staff struggled against Richmond and called on the bats to pick up the slack.

The most disappointing parts of the week, however, were the back-to-back matchups against North Carolina and UNC-Greensboro. The Tigers lost both of these games, and although losing to the Tar Heels, the fourth-ranked team in the country, is nothing to be ashamed of, Link said the energy just was not there.

“I’m probably most unhappy about our two mid-week games against UNC and UNC-Greensboro,” Link said. “We had an off day Monday and just didn’t come out with the type of energy we needed to compete in those two games.”

Although Princeton has started this season inconsistently, the team is positive. As long as energy stays up, pitching improves and the team builds early leads, the Tigers have a good shot at defending their championship.

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“I think the positive in all of this is that I feel like we’re headed in a good direction, playing some solid baseball, going into Ivy League play next weekend,” Link said.

Princeton starts its Ivy League season Saturday, March 31 at noon against Dartmouth at Clarke Field.