Baseball: Bats come alive in 20-hit victory at rival Rutgers

Early on, it looked as though the Tigers might not be able to pull off the feat. Rutgers (10-16) starter Willie Beard looked sharp in the first inning, retiring the side in order with two strikeouts. Meanwhile, freshman left-hander Mike Fagan struggled with his command early on, walking the first batter he faced. Despite repeatedly finding himself in hitters’ counts, Fagan emerged from the frame unscathed.

The rookie starter seemed to be coming into his own in the second, striking out rightfielder Michael Zavala on three pitches and quickly throwing two strikes to first baseman Russ Hopkins. The inning would get out of hand, however, when Hopkins was hit by a pitch. Fagan then issued a walk, allowed a single to give the Scarlet Knights a 1-0 lead and uncorked a wild pitch to make the score 2-0. Rutgers centerfielder Brian O’Grady brought home another run with a sacrifice fly to run the score to 3-0 before the inning was over.

In the next frame, however, the Tigers figured out Beard and struck back, stringing together four singles before the Knights could record a single out. A sacrifice fly and another single would tie the score at three apiece.

The stalemate lasted until the bottom of the fourth inning. Rutgers led the inning with a walk, and leftfielder Joe D’Annunzio laced a Fagan offering to the right-center gap for a triple. Though Fagan recorded two outs, head coach Scott Bradley opted to bring in the right-handed Goetz to deal with Rutgers third baseman D.J. Anderson.

The move would pay off, as Anderson went down swinging. While Goetz continued into the eighth inning, the Scarlet Knights’ defense suffered a monumental collapse. Princeton took a 6-5 lead in the sixth after Rutgers committed three straight run-scoring misplays.

The Knights would answer with a run in the seventh, but it was Princeton that took firm control of the game in the top of the eighth inning. A single by sophomore first baseman Steve Harrington led the Tigers off before Anderson committed an error and allowed sophomore infielder Alex Flink on base with no outs. Though Rutgers retired freshman third baseman Jonathan York on a sacrifice, the runners advanced. Another Anderson error loaded the bases with just one out, and each of the next four batters drove in a run before the home side ended the inning, with the Tigers returning to their dugout dancing to the music of the stadium’s loudspeakers.

The game was originally meant to be played at Princeton, but the rain forecast for Tuesday morning suggested that Clarke Field would be unplayable. Bainton has better drainage, making it better suited for wet conditions. But it also meant that Rutgers could bat the bottom of the ninth and try to make the end of the game interesting.

They did exactly that. Junior right-handed pitcher Ryan Makis had done well in relief of Goetz in the eighth inning, but the Knights tagged him for two runs with just one out. Makis recovered to retire D’Annunzio as well as pinch hitter Bill Hoermann and to seal the win for the Tigers.

The win improved Princeton’s record to 10-13, giving the Tigers a chance to go above .500 this weekend when they travel to Harvard and Dartmouth for twin doubleheaders.