“When we get to league, it’s all about results,” head coach Scott Bradley said. “It was all in all a terrific weekend for everybody.”
Princeton took control of Saturday’s first game early on when sophomore Matt Bowman retired the Bears in order in the top of the first. The Tigers wasted no time in getting on the board in the bottom half of the inning. Freshman second baseman Alec Keller started the game with a single down the left field line, and a pair of hits by sophomore outfielder John Mishu and freshman first baseman Mike Ford drove home the game’s first two runs. Ford later scored on a single to left field by sophomore leftfielder Nate Baird.
The Bears went down 1-2-3 in the second inning as well, and the Tigers once again scored three runs to increase their lead to 6-0. Brown put up three runs in the top of the seventh to try to mount a comeback, but it was not enough, as Princeton finished the game with a 7-4 victory.
The second game became a rout quickly, as the Tigers scored eight runs on eight hits in the first two innings, capped by Baird’s three-run homer. Junior catcher Sam Mulroy added another home run in the fourth inning and the Tigers cruised to a 12-2 win.
Princeton’s offensive momentum carried over to the first Yale game, as the Tigers made five runs in the first three innings. Bowman drew a one-out walk and stole second. With two outs, Mulroy hit what looked certain to be a groundout, but Yale shortstop Gant Elmore threw the ball away, allowing Bowman to score the game’s first run. Ford, the game’s starting pitcher, helped himself in the next at-bat, slicing an opposite-field double down the left-field line to drive Mulroy home.
The Tigers stole five bases in the seven-inning game, which figured prominently in their three-run third inning. After leading off with a single to left field, Mulroy stole both second and third. With the infield in, sophomore second baseman Alex Flink singled to center field, bringing home Mulroy. Sophomore first baseman Steve Harrington followed with an RBI single to right and freshman third baseman Jonathan York added a sacrifice fly to make it a 5-0 game.
Mulroy solidified the 7-1 victory in the bottom of the sixth inning. With Mishu on base after an error, the catcher lofted a sky-high two-run homer over the left field wall off a low and outside 0-2 pitch.
It was a promising first Ivy League start for Ford, who took a shutout into the top of the seventh. He settled down after walking the leadoff batter on four pitches and allowed only one hit in the first four innings.
Ford mixed up his two-seam fastball and four-seam fastball effectively, helping him keep hitters off-balance and record five strikeouts. He got roughed up a little in the seventh inning as the Yale bats finally came alive but induced a fly out and a groundout to escape the inning after giving up only one run.
“I used mixed speeds and changed locations to try to keep them off balance as much as I could,” said Ford, who threw just 87 pitches in the complete game.
For the first time during the weekend, Princeton did not get off to a commanding early lead in the second game against Yale. Senior pitcher Matt Grabowski, who was also making his first career Ivy League start, retired the side in the first two innings, but the Princeton bats did not answer.
Yale leftfielder Cam Squires led off the third inning with a bunt, which Grabowski failed to field cleanly. Grabowski hit the next batter on the helmet, and center fielder Cale Hanson loaded the bases with a bunt single down the third base line. After giving up a sacrifice fly, Grabowski induced a soft line drive to third base, but York dropped the ball. The Tigers got the force at second, but Flink threw it away while trying to gun down the runner advancing to third.
Of the three runs that Grabowski let up, only one was earned.
“We had one bad inning,” Bradley said. “But the sign of a good team is when you can have a bad inning and that’s all.”
The Tigers added a run in the bottom of the inning, but both teams’ bats remained quiet until the bottom of the seventh. Facing right-handed pitcher Eric Shultz instead of lefty starter Christopher O’Hare, Princeton, down 3-1, rediscovered its offense. Sophomore leftfielder Nate Baird led the inning with a double to right-center field, and freshman pinch hitter Ryan Albert drove him home with a single to center. Mishu walked with the bases loaded to tie the game, bringing Mulroy to the plate with a chance to cap off the comeback and put the Tigers ahead.
Mulroy launched a 1-1 pitch to deep right field, which diving rightfielder Charlie Neil got a glove on but could not catch. Mulroy pulled into third base safely as three runs scored, bringing his weekend total to 10 runs batted in.
“Since I had seen him already, I knew where it was coming from, and I just tried to get a good pitch to hit,” Mulroy said. “I didn’t think it would be out or anything. I was just hoping it would be over the guy’s head, and, luckily, it was.”
Senior David Palms pitched almost flawlessly after coming in for Grabowski in the fourth. After retiring the side in order in the sixth and the seventh, Palms gave up a single followed by a two-out double in the eighth. But he got himself out of the jam, striking out shortstop Matt Schmidt on three pitches.
“We had a three-run lead, so I just wanted to go after him and attack him,” said Palms, who was credited with the win. “I knew I had a good defense behind me, so I knew they’d make plays.”
For a team that went 6-14 in league play last season, starting off the slate with two doubleheader sweeps was a source of confidence.
“It feels good to win four games,” Mulroy said. “It’s huge for our momentum going into the rest of the season.”
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