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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Cornell (Game 2)
Baseball Sweeps Cornell; Clinches Gehrig Crown
April 28, 2006 | Baseball
April 28, 2006
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
ITHACA, N.Y. - Sophomore Micah Kaplan hit a bases-loaded single in the top of the ninth inning of Game 2 to put the Princeton baseball team ahead for good in an eventual 12-8 win at Cornell. That win, coupled with a 3-0 shutout in the opener clinched the 2006 Gehrig Division championship for Princeton, its 10th division title in 11 years. Princeton will advance to the Ivy League Championship Series next weekend.
GAME 1
Princeton used single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings to build a 3-0 lead and senior starting pitcher Erik Stiller fanned 11 batters as the Tiger picked up a 3-0 win in the first game of the doublehader. Senior Zach Wendkos' third-inning single scored the go-ahead run and Kaplan hit a solo homer in the fourth inning. Senior Stephen Wendell had two hits in the game.
Princeton scored the game's first run in the third inning with a two-out rally. Junior Aaron Prince started it with a double to the gap in left center. Cornell starter Rocky Collis walked senior Andrew Salini, which brought Wendkos to the plate. Wendkos found himself in an 0-2 hole after two pitches, but took a ball, then dropped a popup in shallow centerfield to score Prince from second base. Princeton pushed its lead to 2-0 when Kaplan led off the fourth inning with a solo home run. The ball was hit over the wall in right center and was his first homer of the season.
Princeton continued to add a run an inning in the third inning to push its lead to 3-0. Freshman Dan Degeorge wound up safe at second when he tried to leadoff the inning by bunting for a single. Collis, who fielded the ball sent the ball past the Big Red first baseman and DeGeorge was safe at second. He went to third when Salini hit an infield single on a pitch he was jammed on that rolled between the pitcher and third baseman. Salini proved to be a distraction on first as Collis sent several throws over trying to keep him from stealing second. Eventually one of those pitches sailed by the first baseman and DeGeorge scored on the error.
After being no-hit by Stiller through four innings, Cornell started the fifth with back-to-back singles and a wild pitch put runners on second and third with no outs. Stiller then got the first out of the inning by striking out Matt Goodson looking and used some help from his defense as Scott Hardinger's fly ball to center looked as if it would score a run but freshman Derek Beckman fired the ball in to the plate and Wendkos tagged out Nathan Ford to complete the double play and end the inning.
Cornell threatened one more time in the bottom of the seventh with a leadoff walk and a two-out single, but Stiller forced a game-ending fielder's choice to seal the win and move him to 3-3 on the season. He allowed just three hits in the game and struck out 11. Collis took the loss.
GAME 2
In Game 2, the Tigers jumped to an early lead, fell behind, then broke a 7-7 tie with five runs in the ninth to post a 12-7 win. Iacono and Lucian each drove in three runs on three hits in the game, while Iacono scored fours runs. Iacono hit a three run homer in the first inning and Kaplan drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth with his bases-loaded single.
Princeton jumped ahead early in the second game with four runs in its first at bat, although it looked like Cornell might get out of the inning with no damage. After a double play put two outs on the scoreboard, Princeton used five hits and a walk to fuel a four-run two-out rally. Salini and Wendkos hit back-to-back singles to left field putting two on for junior Sal Iacono, who drilled a pitch off the parking structure just beyond the fence in right field. Iacono's second home run this season was a three-run homer and gave Princeton the early lead.
Kaplan continued the rally with a single to center and a walk to Wendell put two runners on base and brought sophomore Spencer Lucian to bat. Lucian quickly fell down 0-2 and then fouled off three pitches before taking the ball the other way and hitting it to right field. Kaplan scored from second on the hit.
Cornell quickly chipped a run off that lead with one in the bottom of the first inning. Seth Gordon drew a leadoff walk and eventually came around to score on Michael Weiss' RBI-single through the right side. Cornell left two on base in the inning.
The Big Red added another run to make the score 4-2 in the second inning. A pair of leadoff singles put two on base and the runners advanced on a groundout. Another groundout scored the lead runner and cut the Tiger lead to two runs.
Princeton got the run back in the third inning and made the lead 5-2. Iacono led off with a single and went to third on a pair of wild pitches, before scoring on Lucian RBI-double down the left field line.
Cornell moved within one at 5-4 in the bottom of the third on the strength of a two-run home run to left field from William Pauly. Domenic Di Ricco had walked before him.
Another Big Red home run gave Cornell its first lead of the game in the fourth inning. A leadoff single by Hardinger that dropped in shallow center and a perfect bunt for a base hit put aboard with no outs for Bryan Kaufman, who turned on a 1-2 pitch and homered to right field. The three-run homer gave Cornell at 7-5 lead.
The back-and-forth run scoring continued in the fifth as Princeton scored twice to knot the score up at 7-7. A one-out walk to Iacono and a two-out walk to Wendell set things up for Lucian who singled on a 3-2 pitch to right center for his third run-scoring hit of the game. Wendell advanced to third on the hit and scored an unearned run when Beckman reached on a fielding error.
After 14 combined runs in the first five innings, the teams were held scoreless through the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Princeton junior starter Eric Walz went seven innings and allowed seven runs on nine hits. He struck out five. Cornell starter Blake Hamilton went two and a third and allowed five runs on seven hits. Walker Toma came on in the third and pitched five and two thirds, allowing two runs on three hits. Neither of the three factored in the decision. He left with two on and one out in the ninth inning.
Princeton put its first two runners on in the top of the ninth inning. Prince, the lead runner who had walked was out at third on a fielder's choice but it left Salini and Wendkos on first and second. Iacono beat out the throw on a ball hit to third for an infield single, which brought up Kaplan with the bases loaded. Kaplan delivered a single through the left side for his second hit of the game to drive in Salini as the go-ahead run. The bases remained loaded for Wendell, who also singled through the left side to score two runs and the bases were cleared when the Cornell left fielder misplayed the ball, which left Wendell standing on second. Princeton plated its final run of the inning when Beckman hit an infield single and Wendell caught the infield napping as he scored from second. The inning ended with five runs crossing the plate and Princeton taking a 12-7 lead.
Freshman Brad Gemberling came on for Princeton in the eighth and struck out the side with 11 pitches. allowed a solo home run to Kaufman in the ninth but was able to seal the win for Princeton. Gemberling improved to 2-2 with the win. Toma took the loss as he fell to 1-3.
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The Tigers improved to 14-22-1 overall and 9-9 in the Ivy League with the win. Princeton completes its home-and-home series with Cornell on Sunday afternoon at Clarke Field. Game time is set for 12 p.m.