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Princeton University Athletics
Home Baseball Season Opens Friday Against Stony Brook
March 24, 2005 | Baseball
March 24, 2005
Princeton, N.J. - The Princeton baseball team (2-9) plays its first home games of the 2005 season on Friday when Stony Brook (5-11) visits Clarke Field for a doubleheader beginning at 11:30 a.m. The two teams continue their series with a doubleheader Saturday on Long Island.
After opening the season with nine losses, the Tigers have won their last two games entering this weekend's series. Last Saturday at Old Dominion, Princeton broke open a 4-4 game with two runs in the seventh and one in the eighth, then held on for a 7-6 win. The following day, Princeton took a 2-0 lead three batters into the game, and never looked back in picking up the 18-1 win.
Several of Princeton's defeats were close games entering the late innings. In three of the games, the score was tied in either the seventh or eighth inning, and on two occasions, Princeton rallied to tie the score in the top of the ninth, only to fall in the bottom half of the inning.
The Tigers finally broke out late in the Spring Break trip against Old Dominion, scoring 25 runs over the final two games to earn a pair of wins. In Saturday's 7-6 win, the Tigers used 14 singles to manufacture seven runs. Senior Adam Balkan had two hits, two runs and two RBIs to lead Princeton offensively as four other Tigers added a pair of hits as well. Sophomore Gavin Fabian pitched eight innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits, and senior Brian Kappel came in for the save.
On Sunday, the Princeton bats were ready from the start. Sophomore Aaron Prince led off with a deep fly ball for an out. The senior Will Venable singled to right field, and the Tigers picked up a lead they would not lose when sophomore Sal Iacono hit his first homer of the season to left field. Princeton would add one more run in the inning, three more in the sixth and six in both the seventh and eighth. At the end of the day, the Tigers had 18 runs on 22 hits and had hit three doubles and five home runs. Venable went 4 for 6 with a double and two homers for seven RBIs. Juniors Andrew Salini and Matthew Becker also had four hits in the game. Junior Ryan Eldridge had three hits, including two homers in the game as well.
Pitching with a lead from the start, junior Erik Stiller allowed a run on six hits. He struck out five. Sophomore Eric Walz pitched two innings of scoreless relief.
The Tigers raised their team batting average to .289 over the weekend, led by Venable's .452 average. In seven games since joining the team after basketball season, Venable is 14 for 31 with 10 RBIs, nine runs and three home runs. He has an .806 slugging percentage and reaches bases 41.4 % of the time. Salini makes it two Tigers over .400 with a .425 average and four Tigers are batting above .300. Eldridge is hitting .395 with five home runs and 16 RBIs.
The Tiger pitching lowered its ERA over the weekend by over a run. Fabian and Stiller pick up their first wins of the season. Fabian's ERA dropped to 3.79 and Stiller's to 4.20, as both were able to work their longest outings of the season. Walz was solid in relief on Sunday and Kappel was able to pitch his first innings in two weeks.
Stony Brook is 5-11 this season with wins over Wofford, Delaware (2), Seton Hall and The Citadel. The Seawolves enter the weekend though on a six-game losing skid on a trip to California.
Last season Princeton and Stony Brook met for the first time, with Princeton taking three of the four games between the two teams, winning 2-0, 4-3 and 4-1, and dropping a game, 2-1.
Sophomore Sal Iacono led all returning Tigers with four hits in the Stony Brook series last year and juniors Andrew Salini and Matthew Becker each had a pair of RBIs in the series. Junior Erik Stiller and sophomore Gavin Fabian earned wins while senior Brian Kappel picked up a save.