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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Cornell (Game 1)
Baseball Knocks Off Cornell 4-1
May 02, 2004 | Baseball
May 2, 2004
Box Score
Princeton, N.J. - Timely hitting and strong pitching lifted the Princeton baseball team to a 4-1 win over Cornell Sunday afternoon in the first game of a doubleheader at Clarke Field. Junior Ross Ohlendorf provided five strong innings, while sophomore Andrew Salini drove home a pair of runs.
Princeton jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after the first inning by taking advantage of a pair of Cornell passed balls. Senior Steve Young drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on junior Adam Balkan's single to centerfield. The runners the each advanced a base during junior B.J. Szymanski's at bat, and then Young scored on a passed ball while senior Tim Lahey was at the plate. The Tigers extended the lead by a run in the third inning after sophomore Matthew Becker led off the inning with a lined single to left field. Young and Balkan then drew back-to-back walks to load the bases and Becker was able to score when Salini hit into a fielder's choice. Cornell chipped one run off the lead in the fourth inning to make it 2-1 when Kaleb Hutchinson scored on a wild pitch after reaching base on a fielder's choice and moving to third on a single and a stolen base.
Princeton added two runs in the bottom of the fifth to jump to a 4-1 lead. Young drew a leadoff walk, his third of the game and moved to second on Balkan's second straight walk. Szymanski then singled through the right side to plate Young and advance Balkan to third, and he scored when Salini reached on his second consecutive RBI-fielder's choice. Princeton looked to add additional runs in the inning but a spectacular diving catch in centerfield by Jon Finch robbed Lahey of a certain double and ended the inning.
Ohlendorf pitched five solid innings to improve to 5-3 on the season and lower his ERA to 3.63. He allowed one runs on five hits while striking out six and walking no one as he threw 90 pitches. Junior Brian Kappel closed out the game, facing the minimum six batters, of which he struck out four, and perserving the Tiger win. Luke Staskal allowed just four hits, but they were timed well as Princeton handed him the loss, dropping him to 1-5 on the season.