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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
North Carolina A
North Carolina A&T Rallies Past Baseball 10-9
March 18, 2004 | Baseball
March 18, 2004
Box Score
Greensboro, N.C. - North Carolina A&T scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth to rally past the Princeton baseball team 10-9 Thursday afternoon at War Memorial Stadium. Princeton scored nine runs on 15 hits but could not hold off the Aggies.
The Tigers swung the bats well form the start, stringing together two hits and a hit batter to take a 1-0 lead in the first. With two outs, junior B.J. Szymanski was hit by a pitch. Sophomore Andrew Salini then doubled to right field to move Szymanski to third. Freshman Sal Iacono then singled to left field to plate Szymanski and put the Tigers up 1-0.
North Carolina A&T got that run back in the bottom of the inning when the Aggies strung together two hits of their own to make the score 1-1 after one inning of play. The Aggies then jumped ahead in the second inning with a pair of runs. Princeton answered back with four runs in the third to take a 5-3 lead. Princeton's first five batters of the inning each hit safely to push across the runs. Junior Adam Balkan led off the inning with a triple to center field that went over the center fielder's head. Szymanski then hit an infield single to score Balkan and he scored when Salini tripled to left center in the next at-bat. Iacono then doubled to the gap in left center to score Salini for his second RBI of the game. Iacono advanced to third when senior Tim Lahey singled up the middle and scored when the next batter, sophomore Stephen Wendell grounded into a double play.
The Aggies got two of those runs back in the bottom of the third to knot the score up at five apiece, mixing together three singles, two stolen bases and a sac fly.
The Tigers reassumed the lead however in the following time to the plate. Sophomore Matthew Becker drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on senior Eric Fitzgerald's bloop single. Szymanski then singled to score Becker and move Fitzgerald to third. Fitzgerald scored a batter later when Salini hit a sacrifice fly to the left fielder as Princeton took a 7-5 lead. A&T was able to cut one run off that lead in the bottom of the fourth to make the score 7-6 Princeton entering the fifth inning.
Princeton added to its lead in the sixth when Fitzgerald led off with a triple. He then scored when Balkan singled to shallow center. North Carolina A&T got back within a run in the seventh when an error on a failed pickoff attempt led to a run. The Tigers came right back though to reclaim the two-run lead in the eighth. Fitzgerald drew a leadoff walk and went to third on Balkan's third hit of the game, a single to right center. Fitzgerald then scored when Szymanski grounded into a double play.
Once North Carolina A&T responded to move back within a run in the bottom of the inning. A leadoff walk and a double tied the game, but the runner was thrown out trying to make it a triple. That play proved important as the next batter hit another double, however the Tigers were not able to take complete advantage of that as the following batter singled to allow the tying run to cross the plate. On that single, the batter was able to reach third as he advanced on a throw and moved to third on an error. He scored a batter later on a throwing error by Iacono. At the end of eight innings, North Carolina A&T had claimed the 10-9 lead for the first time since the second inning.
Princeton freshman Will Sweney made his first career start in the game and pitched three and a third innings. He allowed five runs, four of them earned, on six hits. He struck out two and walked five. Freshman Michael Zaret came on in relief in the fourth to pitch three and two-thirds innings and allowed two runs on five hits. Junior Brian Kappel came in for the eighth inning.
Princeton returns to action tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at Virginia Commonwealth in the opener of a four-game series.