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Princeton University Athletics
Iacono, Staehely Lead Princeton to Game 2 Win, Split at Yale
April 10, 2006 | Baseball
April 10, 2006
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Junior Sal Iacono had three hits, two doubles and drove in four runs and sophomore Christian Staehely tossed seven strong innings as the Princeton baseball team picked up a 5-3 win at Yale in the second game of an Ivy League doublehader at Yale Field. Yale won the opening game 4-3 as the teams split the doubleheader.
GAME 1
Yale jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning by taking advantage of a fielding error with two unearned runs. John Janco hit a leadoff single to left center and should have only reached second when Pedro Obregon singled to right field, but the ball got by the Princeton outfielder in right and Janco was able to score and Obregon reached third. The second run scored when Dan Soltman hit a sac fly. Both runs were unearned.
Princeton answered back in the top of the third to even the score with two hits of its own. Sophomore Spencer Lucian led off with a double that landed on the warning track in left field. Freshman Derek Beckman bunted him to third and he scored when freshman Dan Degeorge legged out an infield roller to second base. Junior Aaron Prince then dropped a single on the right field line after fouling off six-straight pitches to push DeGeorge to second, and DeGeorge scored senior Zach Wendkos singled to right field as Princeton used four hits in the inning to plate two runs. Yale regained the lead in the fourth inning as Ryan Lavarnway hit a leadoff double over the third base bag and went to third on a single to center by Janco. Lavarnway scored the go-ahead run to make the score 3-2 when Eric Rasmussen hit a sac fly to center. Princeton was able to get out of the inning without any further damage with an inning-ending 643 doubleplay.
The Bulldogs padded the lead with another run in the fifth inning as three-straight two-out hits resulted in a 4-2 Yale lead. P.J. Gorynski started the rally with a double to the corner in left field and single's by Marc Sawyer and Jake Doyle scored him.
Princeton came back in its last at-bat looking even the score and took advantage of a throwing error by Yale's shortstop Dan Soltman to plate its first run. Freshman Derek Beckman led off the inning with a chopper to Soltman, but the ball was thrown away and Beckman found his way to second base. He then scored when DeGeorge registered his third hit of the game, this time a double between the third baseman and the bag, after battling off a few foul balls in a 3-2 count. Prince sacrificed DeGeorge to third base, but a pair of Yale pitchers came in to get the final two outs and Yale picked up the win.
Princeton starter Michael Zaret made his first start of the season and allowed four runs, two earned, on nine hits in six innings. Jon Hollis picked up the win and Brett Rosenthal earned the save.
GAME 2
Princeton jumped to an early lead in the first inning of the second game scoring two runs with two outs. Prince drew a four-pitch walk followed by a Wendkos single to center. As Prince went to third, the centerfielder's throw got by the Yale third baseman, allowing Prince to score and Wendkos to reach second. Wendkos then scored the second run of the inning when Iacono ripped a double down the left field line.
Yale quickly evened the score in the bottom-half of the first inning with two runs of its own. Josh Cox began the inning with a walk and after Gorynski reached on a throwing error, a single through the right side by Sawyer loaded up the bases. The first run came in when Janco drew a bases loaded walk and the second came when Doyle hit a sac fly. A strikeout and a fly ball ended the inning without any further damage.
The Tigers grabbed their second lead of the game with a run in the fifth inning as DeGeorge began the inning by reaching on an error. A Prince bunt single moved him to second, a balk to third, and he scored on an Iacono groundout.
The Tigers added to their lead in the seventh inning with two more runs coming off the bat of Iacono. After consecutive one-out singles by Prince and Wendkos, Iacono doubled past the Yale left fielder to plate the two runs with his third hit and second double of the game.
Yale closed the gap in the bottom of the eighth inning with a run. Gorynski drew a one-out walk that ended the day for Staehely. Sophomore Steven Miller came on for the save and gave up a pair of singles which allowed Gorynski to score before getting out of the inning.
Staehely picked up the win and improved to 1-1 on the season. He allowed three runs on five hits in seven and a third innings of work. Miller gave up two hits in the eighth, but recorded the five outs necessary to seal the win. Yale starter Chris Wietlespach went six innings and allowed three runs on six hits and took the loss.
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Monday's split moves Princeton to 5-19-1 overall and 1-7 in the Ivy League. The win in the second game also snapped a 10-game winless streak. The Tigers do not play a mid-week game this week and will be back in action on Saturday for a doubleheader at Columbia.