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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Pennsylvania
Clean Sweep
March 30, 2002 | Baseball
March 30, 2002
Box Score
PRINCETON, NJ - Princeton completed its sweep of Gehrig Division opponent Pennsylvania with a pair of wins on Saturday afternoon at Clarke Field. The Tigers turned in a four-run first inning of the opening game and carried that to a 7-4 win. The Orange and Black trailed 4-1 in the second game, but took the lead with a five-run sixth inning en route to an 8-4 win.
The sweep stretches Princeton's unbeaten streak to six games and improves their record to 8-11. More importantly, it gives the Tigers a 4-0 record in Ivy League Gehrig division play. This will be the first season where the team with the best regular season league record will earn the right to host the Ivy League championship series.
The Quakers struck first in the opening game when Nick Italiano's double to left scored Mike Goldblatt, who had reached on an error. That lead did not last long as Princeton jumped on Penn starter Mark Larenza, who walked four of the first five batters he faced. Eric Voelker and Ryan Eldridge each drew bases loaded walks to plate Pat Boran and Steve Young with two runs. Tim Lahey's groundout to third scored Jon Miller. Adam Balkan's two-out single to center scored Eldridge for the fourth run of the inning.
Penn cut into that lead by posting two runs in the top of the fourth inning. Graham Bangert singled and stole second to put himself in scoring position for Steve Glass, who delivered a single to left that scored Bangert. Mike Goldblatt continued his hot hitting for the Quakers by doubling in Glass to cut the Tigers lead to 4-3.
Princeton added some insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. Mike Chernoff got things going with a one-out single up the middle. Eric Fitzgerald came on to pinch run, stole second and advanced to third on Boran's single up the middle. Young singled down the leftfield line to plate Fitzgerald. Miller's sacrifice fly to right scored Boran and Eldridge singled to right to score Young.
Penn put one more run on the board in the top of the seventh, but could not generate any more offense as it left eight runners on base in the 7-4 loss.
Freshman hurler Ross Ohlendorf earned the win for the Tigers, improving his record to 2-1. He pitched the first 5.2 innings, giving up two earned runs on five hits, while striking out six Quakers. Thomas Pauly continued to be a strong presence for Princeton by picking up his fourth save of the season. He pitched the final 1.1 innings and gave up one run on one hit while recording two strikeouts. Penn's run in the seventh was the first earned run that Pauly has given up all season.
Princeton's offense took a while to crack Penn starter Ben Krantz, who was pitching a no-hitter until Pat Boran singled to right to open the sixth inning.
The Tigers were able to manufacture a run in the third inning. Young led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Yong stole third and scored on Boran's groundout to short.
The Quakers staked a 4-1 lead with three runs in the fifth and one in the sixth before the Tiger bats came through and capitalized on two Penn errors for a big five-run inning in the sixth. After Boran put the first Princeton hit of the game on the board to open the inning, he moved to second on a wild pitch. Fitzgerald walked and Balkan singled to right to score Fitzgerald and Boran. Balkan scored on another wild pitch and Jon Miller struck out, but reached the open first base on an error by the catcher. Paul Ackerman singled to right and Reich walked to close the books on Krantz. Young's fielder's choice scored Miller and left runners at the corners. Young stole second and Ackerman was able to get home on the play for the fifth run of the inning.
Princeton added two more runs in the seventh inning. Boran was hit by a pitch and advanced to third on Fitzgerald's single through the left side. Balkan singled up the middle to score Boran and record his second RBI of the game. Fitzgerald moved to third when Miller flied out to center and scored on Eldridge's ground out and provide the final 8-4 margin.
Jason Vaughan, a freshman lefthander, got the start in the second game and pitched six strong innings. Vaughan struck out two and gave up three earned runs on seven hits. Brian Biefen pitched the seventh and eighth innings, and gave up just one hit. Scott Hindman came in to pitch the ninth and shut down the Quakers, striking out two batters in securing the win.
Princeton will travel to Rider for a 3 p.m. game on Wednesday, April 3 at 3 p.m. and will then return home for more Ivy League action. Harvard will come to town on Saturday, April 6 for a doubleheader starting at 11:30 a.m. Princeton will then host Dartmouth on Sunday, April 7 in a rematch of last year's Ivy League Championship series. Princeton won that series 2-1 to advance to the NCAA championships.
Game 1 Pennsylvania 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 - 4 6 3 Princeton 4 0 0 0 0 3 - - 7 6 1E- (UP) Goldblatt 2, Brocato (P) Boran, DP - Princeton 1. LOB - Penn 8, Princeton 8 2B - (Penn) Goldblatt, Italiano SB - (UP) Bangert, (P) Boran, Fitzgerald Win - Ross Ohlendorf 2-1. Loss - Mark Lacerenza 1-3
Game 2 Pennsylvania 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 - 4 8 2 Princeton 0 0 1 0 0 5 2 0 - - 8 5 3
E- (UP) Bangert, Goldstein, (P) Boran, Miller, Young DP - Penn 1. LOB - Penn 9, Princeton 4 SB - (UP) Glass, Goldblatt 2, McCreery, Bangert, (P) Ackerman, Young 2 Win - Jason Vaughan 1-1 Loss - Ben Krantz 0-3