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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Princeton Baseball Set to Open 2015 Season at No. 4 Louisiana State
February 27, 2015 | Baseball
| Princeton vs. No. 4 Louisiana State University |
|
| Gametimes | Princeton vs. No. 4 LSU l Friday, Feb. 27, 8 p.m. (EST) l Alex Box Stadium |
| Princeton vs. No. 4 LSU l Saturday, Feb. 28, 5 p.m. (EST) l Alex Box Stadium | |
| Princeton vs. No. 4 LSU l Sunday, Mar. 1, 1 p.m. (EST) l Alex Box Stadium | |
| Game Coverage | TV: SEC+/ESPN3 l Audio: 98.1FM l Live Stats |
| All-Time Series |
LSU leads Princeton, 4-2 |
| Records (As of 2/25/15) | Princeton (0-0) l LSU (6-1) |
| Princeton | Roster l Schedule l Stats l @PUTigerBaseball |
| No. 4 LSU |
Roster l Schedule l Stats l @LSUBaseball |
VIDEO SEASON PREVIEW
THE YEAR THAT WAS
• Princeton posted a 14-26 overall record last season with an 8-12 mark in Ivy League play.
• Alec Keller garnered Ivy League Player of the Year honors, becoming the second Princeton player to receive the conference's highest accolade.
• Leading the league in batting average (.327), he had the Ivy's third-highest slugging percentage (.545).
• Michael Fagan joined Keller as a first-team All-Ivy selection, while Zack Belski garnered honorable mention accolades.
• Fagan went 4-2 with a 2.33 ERA as the ace of the Tiger staff, closing out the year as the NCAA statistical champion for strikeouts per nine innings (11.95).
• Belski hit .280 with three doubles, a home run and 19 RBIs in his first collegiate season.
MOVING ON UP
• Michael Fagan and Alec Keller were both selected in the 2014 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
• Chosen 282nd (9th round) by the Oakland Athletics, Fagan was the third Tiger pitcher in as many seasons to be selected, joining Zak Hermans (2013) and Matt Bowman (2012), who were taken by the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets, respectively.
• Fagan was also selected out of high school (2010) by the San Diego Padres (45th round), but did not sign.
• Keller was taken in the 17th round (514th overall) by the Washington Nationals.
• Keller was the 46th Princeton player to be chosen since 1965 and the 21st to be selected since 2000.
STEERING THE SHIP
• Seniors Nick Donatiello and Tyler Servais will serve as the team's co-captains this season.
• Projected as the squad's every day catcher, Servais started 32 of his 33 appearances last season, hitting .216 with a double, two home runs and 12 RBI.
• Donatiello logged 26.0 innings in 11 appearances last season, making two starts.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
• Seeing significant time as freshmen, Danny Baer, Zack Belski, Nick Hernandez and Paul Tupper will look to continue to develop this season.
• An honorable mention All-Ivy selection, Belski could see time at both first and third base after hitting .280 in 37 appearances in 2014.
• Tying for second on the team in RBI (19) as a rookie, Belski was also a sure-handed fielder with 186 putouts, 19 assists and zero errors.
• Starting 29 of 32 outings as a freshman, Baer was second on the team in batting average (.306) while tallying five doubles, 10 RBI and 17 runs scored.
• Looking to make an impact in centerfield, Baer sported a .960 fielding percentage last season.
• Making 38 starts, Tupper hit .275 in 142 at-bats, driving in a team-high 20 runs, while collecting three doubles, two homers and a triple.
• Scoring 18 runs, Tupper should see time in left field after posting a .983 fielding percentage last season.
• Hernandez could see time at first base and right field. Also possibly serving as of the squad's designated hitters, Hernandez hit .202 with two doubles, eight RBI and 12 runs scored.
BACK IN THE MIX
• Princeton returns several upperclassmen to its projected everyday lineup including: Danny Hoy, Billy Arendt and Tyler Servais.
• A second baseman, Hoy was third on the team in hitting a year ago, batting .285 while starting all 40 of the team's games.
• Posting the Tigers' second-highest slugging percentage (.417), Hoy had a team-high nine doubles and three homers.
• Scoring a team-high 25 runs, Hoy amassed 63 total bases and 15 RBI.
• Starting all 39 of his outings last season, Arendt could split time between shortstop and third base. Hitting .225 in 2014, he had seven doubles, two home runs, 13 runs scored and seven RBI.
• The team's everyday catcher, Servais started 32 of 33 appearances last year, hitting .216 with a double, two home runs, 12 RBI and 11 runs scored.
ON THE MOUND
• Princeton returns several of its top pitchers from last year's squad: Chad Powers, Keelan Smithers, Cameron Mingo and Luke Strieber.
• Powers started seven of his nine appearances last season, posting a 4.91 earned-run average in 40.1 innings. Holding the opposition to a .258 batting average, he recorded 14 strikeouts while posting a 3-4 record.
• Logging the second-most innings on the staff (46.2), Smithers went 2-4 in 2014 with a 6.17 ERA. Striking out 32 batters, he issued 27 walks.
• Starting all six of his appearances last season, Mingo went 1-4 with a 4.97 ERA and 10 strikeouts.
• Making 12 appearances (4 starts), Strieber went 1-3 last season with a 5.79 ERA in 42.0 innings of work.
IN RELIEF
• Princeton also returns several relief pitchers from last year's squad including: Chris Bodurian, Nick Donatiello and Tyler Foote.
• Tossing 29.0 innings, Bodurian held the opposition to a .198 batting average, posting a 4.03 ERA with 20 strikeouts.
• Donatiello went 1-3 in 11 appearances (2 starts), recording a 7.62 ERA in 26.0 innings with 26 strikeouts.
• Foote logged 17.0 innings last season, starting two of nine appearances.
• Coming on at the end of the year, Foote tossed seven shutout innings in his final start against St. John's (Apr. 29), allowing four hits while striking out five.
WELCOME TO THE FOLD
• Princeton welcomes four freshmen to the team this season: Nick Brady, Ben Gross, Kevin Thomsen and Asher Lee-Tyson.
• A righthander out of James Madison High School, Brady posted a 12-1 record with a 0.77 ERA and 0.79 WHIP as a senior en route to first-team all-league accolades.
• A righthander from Cranbury, N.J., Gross posted a 2.29 ERA as a senior at Princeton High School.
• A righthanded pitcher from Newport Beach, Calif., Thomsen was a Trinity League honorable mention honoree, recording a 2.21 ERA in two seasons.
• Lee-Tyson was the conference Player of the Year at Weston High School, hitting .413 as a shortstop with 15 stolen bases.
ROAD WARRIORS
• Princeton will play its first 17 games away from Clarke Field, beginning with a three game set at No. 4 LSU on Feb. 27-Mar. 1.
• After a pair of series against UNC-Greensboro (Mar. 6-8) and Maryland (Mar. 13-15), the Tigers face ECU (Mar. 17-18), Navy (Mar. 20-22) and Seton Hall (Mar. 24).
• The Orange and Black will open their home and league schedule on Mar. 28-29 with a pair of doubleheaders against Brown and Yale.
SCOUTING LSU
• Princeton is 2-4 all-time against LSU
• In 1976, the Tigers won the inaugural meeting between the two programs (W, 4-1 – 11 innings), before dropping the next two games in the series (L, 4-2/L, 6-2).
• In 2011, Princeton lost the first two games of a three-game set, 8-2 and 7-2, before winning the finale, 8-7.
• Ranked fourth in the nation, LSU boasts a 6-1 record heading into a Thursday (Feb. 26) match-up against Southeastern Louisiana.
• The Tigers swept a three-game set against Kansas to open the year before falling to Nicholls, 6-3. LSU rebounded by taking three games from Boston College on Feb. 20-21.
• Kade Scivicque is hit .500 in his first 18 at-bats, with a double, three homers and a team-high seven RBI.
• Andrew Stevenson hit .360 through the team's first seven games, with three triples, four RBI and eight runs scored.
• Also getting off to fast starts, Conner Hale, Danny Zardon and Alex Bregman each have six RBI, while combining for eight doubles, eight runs scored and two home runs.
• Headlining the Tigers' pitching staff, Jared Poche' is 2-0 on the year with a 1.54 ERA and eight strikeouts in 11.2 innings.
• Limiting opponents to a .171 batting average, Jake Godfrey is 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA.
• Alex Lange (2-0, 3.60 ERA) has fanned 16 batters in 10 innings while issuing just four walks.