NEW YORK -- The Princeton baseball team scored 23 runs to take both ends of its Ivy League doubleheader at Columbia. Princeton won the opening game 10-9 with a run in the seventh inning and took the nightcap 13-7 on the heels of five home runs.
Game 1
Junior Dan DeGeorge hit his fourth single of the game with two outs in the top of the seventh inning to drive in senior Micah Kaplan and lift the Princeton baseball team to a 10-9 win over Columbia in Saturday's first game.
DeGeorge led Princeton with a 4-for-4 game. He drove in three runs and scored two. Senior Spencer Lucian also drove in three runs when he homered in the fifth inning with two on base. Junior Derek Beckman had Kaplan each had two doubles in the win and freshman Matt Connor singled and tripled.
Princeton went ahead 1-0 in the third inning when Kaplan hit a leadoff double to right and scored on Connor's triple, which landed in the right field corner. Columbia promptly answered in the bottom of the third with five runs. The Lions loaded the bases without a hit and scored the first run on Ron William's sac fly. Mike Roberts then doubled in two runs and later Mike Malfettone scored two with a triple.
Princeton rallied to even the game with four runs in the fifth inning. Beckman led off a double and scored on a DeGeorge single. Sophomore Jack Murphy then singled to put two aboard for Lucian, who hit his second homer of the season, this one to right center field to tie the game at 5-5.
The Tigers put up another four runs in the sixth inning to move ahead 9-5. Connor started the inning with a single and a Beckman double put two on base. Both runners came around to score when DeGeorge single to left and the ball got by the Columbia left fielder. DeGeorge then scored on an error and sophomore David Hale had an RBI-single.
The four-run lead did not last long as Columbia put up four in the bottom of the sixth to knot the game at 9-9. Columbia started the inning with two walks and three doubles to plate the first four batters to come to the plate. Dean Forthun had an RBI-double and Nick Cox drove in two with his double.
Princeton scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning when Kaplan led off with double off the left field wall. He went to third on a groundout and scored on a DeGeorge single. Columbia got two runners aboard in the bottom of the seventh inning, but could not push across the equalizer and Princeton won 10-9.
Freshman Dan Barnes got the win for Princeton in relief and is now 2-2 this season. He allowed a hit in 1.2 innings after taking over in the sixth with two runners on. Junior Brad Gemberling pitched five innings and allowed eight runs on five hits. Clay Bartlett allowed a run in the seventh for the loss.
Game 2
Princeton had 14 hits, including five home runs, to take a 13-7 win in the nightcap. Sophomore Jon Broscious hit two of the homers, drove in three runs and scored three runs in the win, while sophomore Jack Murphy had two hits, including a three-run homer.
Columbia went ahead 1-0 when Jason Banos hit a solo homer in the first inning, but Princeton quickly gained the lead for good with a seven-run second inning. Sophomore David Hale started the inning with a single and a Broscious double put two on base. Senior Micah Kaplan drove in Hale to knot the game at 1-1. That was followed by an infield single from junior Derek Beckman and a walk to junior Dan DeGeorge to load the bases and two runs scored when junior Adrian Turnham singled through the right side. That left two aboard for Murphy who hit a towering home run, his sixth of the season, to right field to put Princeton ahead 7-1.
Princeton tacked on two more runs in the third and fourth. In the third, Broscious led off the inning with a homer and Kaplan scored on a fielder's choice. An inning later, Broscious homered again, this time with senior Spencer Lucian on base.
The Lions got four runs back in the fifth inning when Banos hit a two-run homer, his second of the day, and Mike Roberts hit a two-run double to the left field corner.
Solo homers in the sixth by Hale and the seventh by Beckman put the Tigers ahead 13-5. Then Columbia manufactured runs in the seventh and eighth to close the final gap to 13-7.
Senior Christian Staehely improved to 4-2 with the win. He pitched seven innings and allowed six runs on 12 hits, while striking out eight. Freshman Matt Welsh pitched the final two innings. Geoff Whitaker took the loss for Columbia.
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The sweep moved the Tigers to 14-15 overall and 6-4 in the Ivy League. The Tigers are now tied atop the Gehrig Division standings with Columbia at 6-4.
