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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Baseball Visits Navy in Final Tune-Up to Ivy Schedule
March 25, 2011 | Baseball
Princeton enters the weekend 3-10 overall after going 2-8 during its weeklong trip through Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland. While the Tigers only managed two wins, topping Virginia Commonwealth and North Carolina A&T, the Tigers were in several of the games in the late innings. Princeton dropped a one-run game to Holy Cross, was within a run of 15th-ranked North Carolina in the eighth inning, dropped a 1-0 decision at UNC Greensboro and fell in extra innings at Georgetown.
The Tigers have slowly seen their batting averages rise as well as the hitting has started to come on. John Mishu and Matt Bowman are the lone Tiger regulars hitting above .300. Mishu is hitting at a .333 clip while Bowman is batting .302. Jonathan York (.360) and Alec Keller (.308) are also above .300 but have played in more limited roles at this point of the season. The Tigers are now batting .233 as a team, which is its highest team average at any point of the season and it has gone up in each of the team's last five games.
Three of Princeton's four starters had good outings the last time through the rotation and all four will again take the mound this weekend at Navy. Zak Hermans got the win on Thursday at North Carolina A&T after allowing one earned run in 7.2 innings of work. He has made two solid starts and has a 3.52 ERA in 15.1 innings. Bowman took the loss on Friday at Georgetown in a game that Princeton led late before the Hoyas rallied to force extra innings. Bowman has a 3.38 ERA in 13.1 innings. Mike Ford was also good for the Tigers on Sunday at Georgetown. He held the Hoyas hitless into the fifth inning and ended up surrendering four unearned runs on six hits.
The Tigers take on Navy team this weekend that is 11-9-1 overall. Navy split a four-game series last weekend with Yale, dropping the first games on both days before winning the nightcaps. Navy opened the year with five losses in a row, but has won 11 of 16 since. Navy swept a series from Central Connecticut and also has wins over Massachusetts, Jacksonville State and Chicago State.
Navy has become a regular stop on the Princeton schedule over the past few years. This will be Princeton's fifth series with Navy in the last six years and Princeton is 7-8 in the 15 games over that span. Last year the teams split four games at the end of Princeton's Spring Break trip. Princeton won three of four in 2009 and Navy did the same in 2008.
Princeton opens the Ivy League schedule next weekend with doubleheaders at Clarke Field against Brown and Yale.
Series Pitching Matchups
Saturday Gm 1: RH Matt Bowman (0-2, 3.38 ERA, 13.1 IP) vs. LH Sam Long (1-2, 5.92, 24.1)
Saturday Gm 2: RH Zak Hermans (1-1, 3.52 ERA, 15.1 IP) vs. RH Johnny Schoberl (2-1, 4.26, 25.1)
Sunday Gm 1: RH Mike Ford (0-2, 10.54 ERA, 13.2 IP) vs. RH Ben Nelson (2-2, 6.44, 29.1)
Sunday Gm 2: LH Michael Fagan (1-0, 34.11 ERA, 6.1 IP) vs. RH Taylor Cato (1-0, 6.48, 16.2)
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