Baseball: Offense leads Princeton to series victory

Penn brought in a new pitcher, hoping to take the game to extra innings, but the Tigers had momentum. Sophomore Alec Keller came in to pinch-hit and knocked a single into shallow right field that brought home the winning run, completing the comeback.

“I think that was a big momentum win,” Keller said.

Every game matters at this point in the season, and the Quakers came into the series at 5-3 in the Ivy League, looking to gain some ground in the highly competitive Lou Gehrig Division. But Princeton (16-13 overall, 9-3 Ivy League) took three of the four games, putting some distance between itself and Penn (15-16, 6-6) and remaining one game behind Cornell in the division.

The Tigers had to press in Saturday’s second game after handling the Quakers easily in the first game, winning 7-3 thanks to the latest fantastic outing from a starting pitcher. Ford took a perfect game into the sixth inning, when it was disrupted by a pair of errors, and maintained a no-hitter until his first pitch of the seventh, which Penn’s Greg Zebrack knocked way over the fence in left field. He gave up two more runs that inning but still won comfortably, allowing no walks.

That comfortable lead was a group effort. Five Tigers had an RBI in the first game, three of which came in the second inning. Freshman second baseman Blake Thomsen and junior third baseman Alex Flink drove in runs with a single and a double, respectively, and sophomore shortstop Matt Bowman drove Thomsen home on an infield single. Penn starter Cody Thomson went the distance, but he gave up another three-run inning in the fourth, and Harrington took him deep in the fifth to score Princeton’s seventh run.

After rolling through the first game, the Tigers came out firing in the second. Junior Zak Hermans struck out the first two batters he faced and went on to fan five more without any walks in a full nine innings of work. He was backed up by what may have been Princeton’s best defensive game of the season so far: The Tigers were error-free and the infield turned three double plays.

“To go out and not have any errors on the board is huge, and [sophomore third baseman Jonathan] York made a couple of nice stabs to start those double plays,” Hermans said. “I don’t think, in my whole Princeton career, I’ve had that many double plays turned behind me, so that was huge.”

Penn answered with an airtight defense of its own. Starter Matt Gotschall threw six innings and allowed just one run, when senior catcher Sam Mulroy walked, stole second and crossed the plate on a Ford single. The Quaker bullpen held the Tigers to one run through the eight inning, and Penn took the lead with two solo homers, one of which was Zebrack’s second of the day.

Then came the rally, and Princeton swept the day.

“It’s just baseball. And momentum, in baseball, it doesn’t mean anything,” head coach Scott Bradley said.

The first game on Sunday was proof of that fact. Penn looked like the previous day’s disaster had never happened, and neither team allowed a run for the first five innings. Bowman struck out six batters in six-and-a-third innings, cruising until he walked his only batter of the game and allowed Penn’s Spencer Branigan to reach on a single. Ryan Deitrich and Derek Vigoa both singled, and Penn got two runs on consecutive close plays at the plate.

The Quakers seemed to have figured Bowman out when Austin Bossart drove in two more runs with a triple to the right-field fence, but Bradley stuck with Bowman, who barehanded a soft grounder and made the out to stop the bleeding.

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“I think that sort of woke our team up a little bit,” Bowman said. “We just responded incredibly.”

That response came in the bottom of the inning, which started with Keller reaching base on a third-strike wild pitch, after which junior Jon Mishu was hit by a pitch and Mulroy got on base thanks to an error in right. Ford, who had six RBIs for the weekend, drove in two runs with a single through the right side of the infield, bringing up Harrington. The junior made starter Vince Voiro work, fouling off several balls before sending one over the center fielder’s head. Harrington scored on a wild throw from the outfield, circling the bases and giving the Tigers the lead on what was ruled a triple and an error.

In the top of the seventh inning, “Call Me Maybe” was still playing over the loudspeakers due to a mistake in the press box as Bowman gave up a triple on his first pitch. Bowman tried to get past the interference from Carly Rae Jepsen, getting the first out of the inning on an impressive dive by senior third baseman Andrew Whitener, but Penn tied the game and ended his outing with a double.

Sophomore Michael Fagan came in and shut down the Quakers while Voiro continued to confound the Tigers. The game, which was slated for seven innings, was knotted up until the top of the ninth, when a walk and a sacrifice fly put a runner on third with one out.

Fagan rung up the next hitter with a breaking ball, but Dietrich and Vigoa plated Quakers with back-to-back hits. The Tigers tried to mount another comeback in the bottom of the ninth, but with runners on the corners and a 3-2 count, reliever Ronnie Glenn struck out Mishu to end the game and hand Princeton a 7-5 loss.

The Tigers, who have been placing an emphasis on trying to come out of each series with more wins than losses, were prepared to win the series in the final game.

“We don’t get beat twice in a row,” Bowman said. “I knew we were gonna win that one.”

Penn got one run off of junior Kevin Link in the top of the first inning, but Princeton blew the visitors away in the bottom half. Keller and Mishu led off with singles, and a third single from Mulroy tied the game. A two-run double from Ford put the Tigers squarely in control, and they never looked back.

Three more singles ended the outing of Penn starter Sam Horn, who got just one out but was responsible for seven runs. Mike Zuppe came in to try to stem the tide, but he did the opposite” Thomsen hit the first offering he saw from Zuppe just over the left-field wall, putting the finishing touches on an eight-run inning.

Princeton added another run in the second with a double from Harrington.

“I’m just glad I could contribute and get some of the hits we needed this weekend,” said Harrington, who was 7 for 16 at the plate in four games.

Link allowed four runs in the next inning, two of which came in on a smash from James Mraz that seemed to follow the third base line exactly. Though he struck out four, Link also let up 10 hits, keeping up the illusion that Penn could battle back.

“Kevin Link just gutted it out today,” Bradley said. “And that’s really the type of competitor he is. We just wanted to try and get him through five.”

Link rose to the challenge despite not having his best stuff, and he left in the fifth with his team up 10-5. Senior Ryan Makis came in in relief, allowing two runs in two-and-a-third innings, and freshman Nick Donatiello allowed just one hit and no runs for the remainder of the game, a 13-7 victory.

“I think this is exactly what we expected. We knew it would be tight, we knew there would be some close games, and we were able to take three of four, which is awesome.” Harrington said of the series.

The three wins this weekend put the Tigers well above Penn and Columbia in their division, but Cornell still leads them a game. Princeton will play a four-game set at Columbia next weekend before facing Cornell the following week.

“Cornell just keeps winning. They’re terrific now,” Bradley said. “All we can do is go out and just try to win the games that we can.”