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Princeton University Athletics
Baseball Drops Season Opener 7-6 at The Citadel
March 03, 2006 | Baseball
March 3, 2006
Box Score
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Princeton baseball team dropped its season opener 7-6 on Friday afternoon at The Citadel. Senior Andrew Salini went 2-for-4 with four RBIs and a home run in the game as the Tigers opened the season with a loss. The teams meet for a doubleheader tomorrow afternoon.
Princeton jumped ahead with a run on three hits in the first inning. Freshmen Derek Beckman and Dan Degeorge began their first collegiate games with back-to-back singles to put two on with no outs. A fielder's choice pushed Beckman to third and he scored on Salini's single through the left side.
The Citadel evened the score in the bottom-half of the first inning when Chance Smith led off for the Bulldogs with a home run over the left field wall. The Citadel went ahead 3-1 with a pair of runs in the second inning on when Smith singled in a run on a bases-loaded infield singe and another run scored on the play on Matt Convington's fielder's choice.
Princeton got one of the runs back in the top of the third inning. Junior Matthew Becker led off the inning on a triple to right center and scored when Beckman reached on an error.
The Citadel reassumed the two-run lead in the bottom-half of the inning, however, making the score 4-2. With two outs, Matt Arnold singled to left center and he scored when the next batter, Sid Fallaw, doubled to center field.
After a scoreless fourth and fifth innings, the Bulldogs added a run in the sixth for a 5-2 lead when Chris Swauger drew a bases-loaded walk.
The three-run lead did not last long for The Citadel however, as Princeton put four runs on the board in the top of the seventh inning to go ahead 6-5. With two outs, DeGeorge started the rally with an infield single. A single to right by Prince put two on for Salini, who homered to right field to knot the score at 5-5. The inning was not yet over though for the Tigers, as they were able to push another run across the plate. A single by junior Sal Iacono and a walk by Wendkos put two on for senior Stephen Wendell, who singled through the left side to score Iacono and give Princeton the lead. The Bulldogs quickly evened the score with a run in the bottom of the seventh. Zach Brown drew a leadoff walk and went to third on Sonny Meade's single. He scored on a passed ball to make the score 6-6.
The Citadel went ahead in the bottom of the eighth with the game-winning run as Matt Covington scored on a fielder's choice with the bases loaded.
Senior Erik Stiller pitched four innings in the game and allowed four runs on seven hits, while striking out five Bulldog batters. Junior Michael Zaret entered the game in the fifth inning and allowed two runs, only one earned in the three innings. Sophomore Steven Miller allowed one run in the eighth inning and took the loss.
Citadel starter Wes Wrenn pitched six innings and allowed two runs on seven hits. Princeton scored all four sixth-inning runs off of Meade, who pitched two-thirds of an inning and allowed four runs on five hits. Justin Smith got the final out of the seventh and pitched a scoreless eighth for the Bulldogs. Link Saunders notched the save.
Princeton starts the season 0-1 while The Citadel is now 7-3. The teams continue their series with a doubleheader tomorrow afternoon. The first game is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. Princeton juniors Gavin Fabian and Eric Walz will get the starts for the Tigers.