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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Cornell (Game 2)
Tigers Cap Regular Season by Sweeping Cornell
April 30, 2006 | Baseball
April 30, 2006
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
PRINCETON - Sophomore Spencer Lucian hit a walk-off home run in the opener and drove in four in the nightcap to lead the Princeton baseball team to a doubleheader sweep of Cornell on Sunday afternoon at Clarke Field. Lucian completed the day with five hits, six RBIs and three runs scored to help Princeton to the four-game weekend sweep of the Big Red.
GAME 1
Lucian clinched the win for Princeton in the opener with his leadoff home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. It was his second run-scoring hit of the game as he was the only Tiger with multiple hits in the game.
Cornell jumped ahead with single runs in the third and fourth innings. In the third, Seith Gordon hit a one-out single, stole second and third, then scored on a single by Brian Kaufman. An inning later Jimmy Heinz hit a leadoff double and later scored on a sac fly.
Princeton evened things up with two runs in the fifth inning. Lucian hit a one-out double to right center and went to third on freshman Derek Beckman's single. A walk to freshman Dan Degeorge loaded the bases and Lucian scored when junior Aaron Prince was hit with a pitch in the leg. The bases remained loaded, and Beckman scored on a sac fly by senior Andrew Salini. Lucian gave Princeton its first lead of the game in the sixth inning. After a one-out double by sophomore Micah Kaplan, he was replaced at second by freshman Adrian Turnham who was safe on a fielder's choice and made it to second while Kaplan was caught in a rundown. Sophomore Gavin Fabian came on to pinch run for Turnham and he scored when Lucian singled through the left side.
Up 3-2 in the seventh, Princeton looked to close out the win, but Cornell managed an unearned run to even the score at 3-3 and push the game to extra innings. Nathan Ford reached on a fielding error and after a groundout moved him to second, he scored on a Brant McKown single.
Princeton was unable to score in the seventh and the teams played a scoreless eighth inning. Sophomore reliever Steven Miller worked around two Cornell hits in the top of the ninth, before Lucian drilled a 3-2 pitch over the wall in left field to give Princeton the win.
Miller picked up the win in relief after allowing an earned run in three innings. Junior starter Michael Zaret allowed three runs in six innings.
GAME 2
Five Tigers had two hits apiece in the nightcap as Princeton ran away from Cornell for the 12-2 win. Lucian was one of the three Tigers to have multiple RBIs as he led the way with four. Seniors Zach Wendkos and Stephen Wendell both had two.
Princeton picked up a 2-0 lead in the second inning and made it 3-0 an inning later with enough runs for sophomore Christian Staehely to work with as he battled through five scoreless innings to improve to 4-1 on the season.
In the second, freshman Andrew Doupe walked and Wendell singled, before Lucian drove them both in with a double to left center. In the third, a Wendkos single drove in Prince, who had reached on a single.
Princeton ran its lead to 5-0 with a two-run fourth inning. Senior Matthew Becker was hit by a pitch and then made it to second on a failed pickoff attempt. A Prince double scored Becker and two consecutive errors on ground balls hit to second allowed Prince to score.
Cornell plated tow runs in the eighth inning to move within three runs. Michael Weiss doubled and went to third when Ford reached on an error. Kyle Groth also reached on an error that allowed Weiss to score the first run. A passed ball later in the inning allowed Ford to score.
Three runs was as close as the margin would get as Princeton plated seven runs in the bottom of the inning to reach the 12-2 final score. Beckman began the inning by striking out, but the third strike was a wild pitch and Beckman was safe at first. After stealing second, he tagged on a fly ball to reach third. Cornell intentionally walked Salini, but the idea failed as Wendkos followed him with an RBI-single. A walk to junior Sal Iacono filled the bases and a run scored when Fabian singled to right center. The bases remained loaded for one more batter when Wendell singled to center to score two runs. With two on, the hitting continued as Lucian hit a triple that cleared the bases as it rolled to the wall in right center. He later scored on a wild pitch to cap the scoring.
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Princeton is now 16-22-1 overall and finished the Ivy League regular season at 11-9. The Gehrig Division champion Tigers will meet Harvard next weekend in the best-of-three Ivy League Championship Series, and it will be played in Cambridge, Mass. Princeton has a non-conference game on Wednesday at Rider.