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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Baseball Team Opens Ivy and Home Slate This Weekend
April 02, 2010 | Baseball
Princeton finished up its four-week non-league pre-league season slate with one win in a four-game series last weekend at Santa Clara. In Princeton's first trip out west since the 1993 season, the Tigers and Broncos played four lopsided games, with three going the way of the Broncos and one the Tigers.
Princeton picked up the win last Saturday in the second game of a doubleheader, winning 16-8 in a game it never trailed. In the win, Matt Connor led all Princeton batters with three hits as all nine in the lineup had at least one hit in the game and seven batters had two or more. Brian Berkowitz homered in the game and drove in five runs, while Jon Broscious hit a pair of solo homers. Kevin Link was strong on the mound, allowing just a single hit and run over the final four innings for a save.
For the weekend, Princeton had four batters hit above. 300 and six batted north of .280. Noel Gonzales-Luna had seven hits in the four games to bat at a .389 clip and raise hit team-leading batting average to .375. He also carries a team-best 10-game hit streak into this weekend's contests. John Mishu (.364), Sam Mulroy (.357) and Brandon Englert (.313) also batted above .300 for the weekend. Mulroy's weekend lifted him to .324 overall to join Gonzales-Luna as the two Tiger batters hitting better than .300.
Princeton hit four home runs at Santa Clara. Broscious led the way with three and now has five for the season and 17 for his career to rank sixth all-time at Princeton in the category. Berkowitz also hit a longball and now has two this season and nine in his Princeton career.
After opening the season with 18 games away from home, the Tigers will play their first games on their home field this weekend. It also marks the opening of the Ivy season as Rolfe Division opponents Harvard and Dartmouth visit Clarke Field.
Princeton opens the weekend on Saturday against Harvard. The teams split last season in Cambridge with Princeton taking seven-inning game 3-1, and Harvard getting the nightcap 13-12 in a 17-inning marathon. Princeton swept Harvard at home the previous season.
Harvard is 5-11 overall entering the weekend and like Princeton has not played a game on its home field. The Crimson enters the weekend with wins last weekend over Sacred Heart and two from Hartford. The Crimson has also defeated Notre Dame, Stetson and Creighton this season. Harvard visits Holy Cross on Thursday night prior to Saturday's doubleheader.
Defending Ivy Champion Dartmouth visits Clarke Field on Sunday for a doubleheader. The Big Green has swept Princeton in each of the last two seasons, including a two wins in Hanover last spring by scores of 4-1 and 8-5. Princeton last defeated the Crimson in the 2007 season when the team's split their two games.
Dartmouth enters the weekend 6-8 overall. The Big Green recently returned from its two-week long Spring Break trip to Florida, which ended by dropping two of three games at Bethune-Cookman. The Big Green have wins this season over Wright State, Bucknell, LIU, Bradley and Northwestern. Dartmouth opens its Ivy slate on Saturday at Cornell before visiting Princeton on Sunday.