Breakthrough

After three years of frustration, the seniors of the baseball team propelled the Tigers past rival Dartmouth for the Ivy League Championship and into the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1996.

In a year that started off with more questions than answers, Princeton (24-20 overall, 13-7 Ivy League) solved its early-season worries about hitting and run production to obtain a 24-win season for the third year in a row.

The highlight of the season came at the Ivy League Championship on May 6 against Dartmouth. In the best-of-three series, the Tigers swept the Big Green, 2-0. In the first game, Princeton received a stellar complete game performance by staff ace Chris Young '02. The Tiger hurler, who led the team with a 5-0 record and a 1.82 ERA, stifled the Dartmouth bats en route to a 5-2 Princeton win. In the second game of the series, the Tigers were up 4-3 in the top of the ninth with closer David Boehle '03 on the mound.

The talented freshman had already earned a place in the record books by surpassing the school's single-season saves record. In the biggest game of the season, he looked to add his ninth.

"As I was walking out, I thought about the seniors and what they had been through," Boehle said. "I just wanted to bring the championship to them."

"We've lost in all sorts of ways in the past three years," catcher Buster Small '00 said. "Last year I was sitting in the dugout thinking of how I was going to celebrate. This year I sat on the bench and kept quiet until the last out was recorded."

Boehle got that last out on a breaking ball that sent the final Big Green batter down swinging and earned the Tigers an automatic bid to the NCAAs.

"We have a great class of seniors," head coach Scott Bradley said. "They're great guys and great players and they've been on the field for the last three years when we didn't get it done, so I really feel good for them."

The Tigers learned that they would travel to Houston to play the Conference USA champion and No. 5 seed, the Houston Cougars, in the NCAA tournament. Princeton looked to improve its 1-9 all-time record in Regional play.

While the Tigers didn't get a win against the Cougars, they did earn respect. Young started on the mound for Princeton on May 26 and held Houston hitless for four innings, but the Tigers blew their 6-2 lead in the top of the seventh. Houston eventually defeated Princeton, 7-6, on a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth by J.P. Woodward, sending Princeton to the losers' bracket. In an elimination game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders, the Tigers were crushed, 10-1.

Princeton can, however, look forward to next season, when it will have the potential to return to the NCAA tournament. The Tigers posted a record six first-team all-Ivy selections — three unanimous. And all six of these players are slated to return next year. The six first-team Tigers are the most ever by any Princeton baseball team.

Young, first baseman Andrew Hanson '01 and outfielder Jon Watterson '01 were the unanimous selections for the Tigers. Hanson finished the season with a .360 batting average and had a spectacular game against Columbia in which he went 6-for-6 and hit for the cycle. Watterson, the Tigers' lead-off hitter, posted a .352 batting average and led the team with a .444 on base percentage.

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Boehle, outfielder Max Krance '01 and shortstop Pat Boran '02 also earned first-team selections. Boran led all shortstops in the leauge with his .342 batting average.