Princeton University
Harvard (Game 3 - Ivy League Championship)
Baseball Earns Third Ivy Title In Four Years With Win Over Harvard
May 11, 2003 | Baseball
May 11, 2003
Box Score
Princeton, N.J. - The Princeton baseball won its third Ivy League title in four years and its 14th overall league title after this afternoon's 5-2 win over Harvard at Clarke Field. Thomas Pauly pitched a complete game four-hitter to improve to 6-1 on the season and lead Princeton back to the NCAA tournament after the Tigers missed out on it last season.
The Tigers now stand 27-21 and finished the Ivy League season at 15-5. Princeton overall win total is the second highest in the program's 139-year history.
After a scoreless first inning the Crimson jumped on top 2-0 after stringing together three hits in the second inning. Lance Salsgiver reached on an infield single and scored when Bryan Hale doubled to right field. Hale came home when Mike Dukovich singled up the middle. From that point though, Pauly dug in and allowed only one additional Crimson hit over the final seven innings to earn the win. He also recorded 10 strikeouts in the longest outing of his collegiate career. ?Thomas [Pauly] was great for us today,? said Bradley. ?He had that one tough inning but once we gave him a lead to work with, he was lights out. He's our best pitcher and today she showed why. He came back after a tough inning and worked out of a few jams to earn the win.?
Princeton knotted the game up at two apiece with a two-run third. With an out, Steve Young reached on a fielding error by Harvard shortstop Ian Wallace. B.J. Szymanski then singled through the right side to advance Young over to third. Jon Miller then blooped a single down the right field line to score Young and move Szymanski to third. The next batter was Ryan Eldridge and he hit a deep fly out to centerfield that allowed Szymanski to score and knot up the game.
The Tigers went ahead for good in their following at bat. Tim Lahey led off with a double to the warning track in left field. He was unable to advance when the next hitter, Adam Balkan, grounded out to the shortstop. Mike Chernoff came to bat and laced a single through the left side that scored Lahey. Chernoff advanced to second on the following play when Eric Fitzgerald bunted along the third baseline for a base hit. That brought up Szymanski who singled to allow both Chernoff and Fitzgerald to score.
?That was a big hit by Mike [Chernoff],? said Bradley. ?It was the one that put us on top. We just wanted to advance the runner on base and ended up getting that go-ahead run. It was a great piece of hitting.?
With its scheduled games completed, Princeton will now wait to hear its fate at the NCAA tournament selection show, held on Monday, May 26 at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN 2. It will be the Tigers eighth trip to NCAA baseball tournament.