Princeton baseball (7–12 overall, 2–1 Ivy League) took on the Cornell Big Red (3–13, 1–2) to open Ivy League play for the season at Clarke Field in a three game series, including a double-header on Saturday and a final game on Sunday.
The Tigers took home field for the first time this year, after a tour of North and South Carolina had them at a less than desirable 5–11 record coming into the weekend. Despite this, the Orange and Black came into their home stretch with their heads held high.
“I am proud of the great team win we had against number 14 ranked NC-State,” first-year infielder Bennett Crerar wrote to The Daily Princetonian. “After not even having a single team practice outside, we went down to North Carolina and battled them for three days. Coming out with a win in the third game was amazing. It took the whole team, and will be something I will never forget.”
The Tigers were ready to play on their own diamond and take out some frustration on an Ivy League rival, and that’s just what happened on Saturday.
Game One: Princeton defeats Cornell 13–7
The Texan senior pitcher Justin Kim took the bump to start the first game of the doubleheader Saturday and pitched five solid innings, throwing 82 pitches giving up just two hits and recording eight strikeouts.
The Tigers brought their bats on Saturday and came out hot. Junior infielder Tommy Googins started the scoring in the second with a base hit that brought in first-year pitcher/utility Brady Kaufman to open the scoring.
Senior infielder Jake Koonin hit a towering three-run-homer to left-center field to extend the lead 4–0 in the third, and junior infielder Jake Kernodle’s single scored both Kaufman and sophomore catcher Will Robbins.
Cornell had yet to answer, and Princeton poured it on in the fifth inning. Base hits and sound base running was the story of the day for the Tigers. Junior infielder Jake Kernodle’s basehit scored one, sophomore infielder Grant Werdesheim’s single scored another, and Crerar brought in two with his center-field single before scoring himself on a passed ball later in the inning. This brought the score to a staggering 13–0.
At the top of the sixth, senior pitcher Will Sword came in to relieve Kim. His 75 pitches were more eventful for Cornell, they scored seven runs and tallied seven hits. Despite this, Sword was able to strike out six and get the Tigers out of game one with the win, 13–7.
“We played well on Saturday with contributions from everyone. Jake Koonin, Will Robbins and Jake Kernodle led the offense,” manager Scott Bradley told the ‘Prince’ post-game.
Game Two: Princeton 12, Cornell 0
Saturday’s second game provided another offensive spectacle for Princeton, but this time they were able to sustain the offense throughout the entire game.
The 6’7” sophomore right-handed pitcher James Beasley took the mound to start game two of the day, and he dealt. Beasley threw 88 pitches over five shutout innings, striking out four.
Crerar opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly, which brought sophomore infielder Grant Werdesheim home. Then, Koonin hit his second homer of the afternoon to put the Tigers up 2–0 in the first.
In the second, with the bases loaded, Werdesheim was hit by a pitch, forcing sophomore infielder Isaac Lamsoe home to go up 3–0. Crerar tallied another RBI on a fielder’s choice, and first-year first baseman Tomas Cernius scored another runner on a single.
“When each member of the team takes care of business on pitch by pitch, success is inevitable,” Crerar told the ‘Prince.’
In the sixth inning, junior pitcher Elliott Eaton took the mound in relief of Beasley. He threw 38 pitches over four no-hit innings, and notched two strikeouts.
A throwing error in the sixth allowed Kernodle to steal home, and later in the sixth and seventh innings, base hits from Cernius, Googins, and Kernodle scored three more runs, tallying a 10–0 lead with little resistance from Cornell.
In the eighth inning, Robbins added some insurance runs with a two-run homer to deep left-center. The Tigers closed out Saturday with a 12–0 victory and James Beasley was credited with his second win of the season.
“It was amazing to be able to take the first two games of the series, but the priority was to sweep Cornell,” Crerar said after his career day.
Game Three: Princeton falls 3–6
Sophomore righty Liam Kinneen got the start Sunday, where he had a productive six innings, giving up two runs on five hits, but striking out four in his 87 pitch outing.
Unlike the first two games, however, the Tigers got in a jam early. Looking to cash in, the Big Red capitalized with an RBI single to go up 1–0.
Despite this, the Princeton offense responded quickly. In the bottom of the first, Robbins hit a double to left field which brought Koonin and Crerar home to put Princeton back on top, 2–1. It was a tight matchup for the third game of the series, with the lead swinging back and forth. A Cornell sacrifice fly in the third inning tied the game back up at 2–2, but in the fourth, Kernodle’s great weekend continued with a monster homer to center field to bring the Tigers back on top by one.
The next four innings were tightly fought and Princeton fought to hold on to its one-run lead. To start the seventh inning, first-year pitcher Ryan Penney came in relief. He managed to get through the seventh but ran into trouble in the eighth.
Cornell hit a home run to tie the game and was able to score on a wild pitch to take a 4–3 lead. Junior pitcher Charlie Wolf came in to relieve Penney but had no better luck against the Big Red, giving up a two-run homer in the ninth.
The Tigers ultimately were not able to rally late to come back against Cornell and lost their first in-conference game of the season.
“We were disappointed with the results today,” Bradley said to the ‘Prince.’ “The offense was not able to produce much of anything after the fourth inning [and] just could not hold the lead.”
Despite Sunday’s loss, the Tigers played excellently, especially on Saturday, ending the day with a total of 25 runs. The team intends to carry momentum as they head into more conference play.
“We always look at each weekend independent of each other and are always looking to win the series,” Bradley said. “We accomplished that this weekend.”
“If we continue to improve our mindset, in terms of making adjustments pitch by pitch, we are going to be a really strong team,” Crerar added.
Princeton will face Seton Hall (10–9, 0–0 Big East) in South Orange, N.J. on Wednesday for a one game stand and Brown University (7–11, 2–1 Ivy League) in Providence, R.I. for a three-game series next Saturday and Sunday.
Zeke Arnold is a Sports contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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