Penn came to Clarke Field this weekend to question the strength of the baseball team's four-year hold on the Gehrig Division crown. After the Tigers captured all four games of the series, the answer is clear. Princeton is still the team to beat.
The Tigers got two very different kinds of victories yesterday afternoon. In the first game, sophomore Chris Young pitched a complete game, allowing three hits, no earned runs, and striking out 10 to power the Tigers to a 7-1 victory. Down 5-4 in the second game, Princeton got a two-run, two-out double in the bottom of the ninth from junior Jon Watterson to secure the series sweep.
"I really wanted to get up there," Watterson said, "because I feel like a leader this year and because I really wanted it."
The ninth inning began with Princeton down by just one run, 5-4. After junior first baseman Andrew Hanson grounded out, junior catcher Casey Hildreth was the first runner aboard after he was hit by a pitch for the fourth time in the game — breaking the record set last weekend by senior Buster Small.
Then, with two outs and one runner aboard, the Tigers were depending on the bottom third of their order to get the job done. Sophomore left fielder Ryan Achterberg — who is hitting .270 on the season — lined a single to left field, moving Hildreth to second.
Junior Sean McNally worked the count to 3-2 against Penn freshman Andrew McCreery, and then took the next pitch high to load the bases. Senior Jay Mitchell, a .259 hitter, did the same, just barely fouling off two 3-2 pitches before watching ball four send him to first and Hildreth home to tie the score at 5-5.
Clutch performance
With the bases still loaded and two outs, Penn coach Bob Seddon called left hander Paul Grumet out of the bullpen to face Watterson.
"Sitting in the dugout I was thinking about it," Watterson said. "I was thinking that if I got up there, it was going to be with the bases loaded and two outs, and I wanted it."
And Watterson made the most of his opportunity. The junior watched Grumet's first pitch, a solid curveball for a called strike. The next pitch was another curve that Watterson drove to deep left-center field, scoring Achterberg for the winning run.
"Johnny Watterson gets as many big hits as anybody," head coach Scott Bradley said.
Freshman David Boehle, who struck out Penn senior Jeff Gregorio with the bases loaded to end the top of the ninth, got the victory, moving his record to 2-2. McCreery took the loss, pushing his record to 4-2.
McCreery had problems with his control throughout the day, hitting six Princeton batters.
"[McCreery] throws one pitch over your head, the next pitch on the corner," Bradley said. "He's effectively wild. All day long our kids battled, stayed in there, and got it done."
With 10 strikeouts in the first game, Young tied his personal best for the second time this year.
With the Tigers leading 3-0 in the bottom of the third inning, junior Max Krance launched a two-run home run to right field. Krance was 2 for 3 in the game with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored.
With a 12-4 Ivy League record, the Tigers have a four-game lead on Cornell in the Gehrig Division, heading into the showdown this weekend in Ithaca, N.Y.
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