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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Old Dominion
Strong Offensive Day Lifts Baseball to Season Opening Win
March 05, 2004 | Baseball
March 5, 2004
Box Score
Norfolk, Va. - During the offseason, Princeton head coach Scott Bradley would tell anyone who wanted to listen about his offense for the coming season. Well, Friday afternoon, in its first game of the season, that offense hit the ground running with 14 runs and 20 hits in a 14-8 win over Old Dominion at the Bud Metheny Complex.
Princeton started the game on the right foot by putting four runs on the board in the top of the first inning against Monarch starter Justin Verlander. After retiring the firsttwo batters, junior centerfielder B.J. Szymanski hit a home run on the first pitch he saw to make the game 1-0. Senior catcher Tim Lahey followed that with a walk and moved to third when freshman third baseman Sal Iacono doubled down the left field line. Both runners scored when sophomore right fielder Andrew Salini homered to left field. The four-run inning gave Princeton starter junior Ross Ohlendorf the cushion he would need as he worked five innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits while striking out nine. Senior Brian Biegen pitched two innings allowing five runs and junior Brian Kappel tossed the final two innings allowing one hit and striking out four.
The game was pitted as a meeting between two of the top pitching prospects in the nation. Verlander, a potential top-five draft choice struggled to fins the strike zone as the Tigers tagged him for 11 hits and 10 runs in five innings. Ohlendorf is also considered a top prospect for the 2004 baseball draft.
Princeton added two runs in the third inning when Szymanski scored on a wild pitch and Lahey scored on a sac fly off the bat of senior first baseman Ryan Reich.
The Tigers built to the lead with runs in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings. In the fourth, senior second baseman Steve Young was singled home by senior DH Eric Fitzgerald after Young reached on a triple. Fitzgerald later scored when Lahey singled through the left side.
The lead was extrended to 10-2 in the fifth Lahey singled home Young and junior left fielder Adam Balkan. The Tigers also added a run in the sixth when Balkan scored on a wild pitch after reaching on a single.
Princeton's final three runs came in the seventh inning. After walking to lead off the inning, Szymanski scored when Salini tripled to left-center. Reich then singled to score Salini. The final run came when Reich scored off a single by sophomore shortstop Matthew Becker.
Princeton is now 1-0 on the season and will look to improve on that record tomorrow afternoon when the Tigers meet ODU again tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m.