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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Rutgers
Freshman Pitching, Junior Hitting Lead Baseball to 3-2 Win Over Rutgers
March 30, 2005 | Baseball
March 30, 2005
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Princeton, N.J. - Strong pitching by freshmen Christian Staehely and Steven Miller and timely hitting lifted the Princeton baseball team to a 3-2 win over Rutgers Wednesday afternoon at Clarke Field. Miller picked up the win after pitching four scoreless innings and junior Ryan Eldridge singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth.
Princeton (5-11) fell behind 1-0 in the first inning when the first batter of the game reached on a walk. He stole second, went to third on a flyout and scored on a groundout to give Rutgers (12-9) the lead.
Princeton rallied back in the fourth to make the score 1-1. Eldridge led off with a single, his first of three on the afternoon. A single by senior Adam Balkan pushed him to second and he moved to third when junior Zach Wendkos walked. Junior Stephen Wendell plated Eldridge with a sac fly to center field.
The score remained tied for the next three innings until the Tigers scored twice in the eighth. Junior Andrew Salini led off with a double to right center and he scored when Eldridge had an RBI-single up the middle. Freshman Ryan Petrulis came in to pinch run for Eldridge and he moved to third after stealing second and going to third on a bad throw. He scored when junior Zach Wendkos singled to the hole between first and second base. Rutgers scored a run and threatened in the ninth but the Tigers held on for the 3-2 win.
Staehely pitched four innings and allowed a run on two hits. Miller came on in the fifth and pitched four scoreless innings allowing just one hit to improve to 1-0. He made way for senior Brian Kappel in the ninth, who allowed one run while picking up the save. Matt Pustay took the loss for Rutgers.
Princeton open the Ivy League season on Saturday at noon against Yale.