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CHAMPIONS! Baseball Wins First Ivy League Title Since 2011
May 15, 2016 | Baseball
PRINCETON, N.J. – 7-32. That was the Princeton's baseball team's final record as it walked off Hoy Field last April. Only two teams in all of Division I finished with less victories than the Tigers. In an incredible turnaround, 386 days later, Princeton walked off of Clarke Field as an Ivy League baseball champion.
After taking game two earlier in the day, 6-2, behind a strong pitching performance from junior Chad Powers and four hits from senior Billy Arendt, the Tigers collected the conference crown on a walk-off wild pitch in the ninth inning of game three.
“We developed this resilience at the beginning of the year,” said Robert H.B. Baldwin '42 Head Coach of Baseball, Scott Bradley. “Our guys just care so much about each other, they deserve this.”
The Tigers won their eighth outright Ivy League title, first since 2011, and became just the fifth conference foe to win the Ivy League Championship Series after losing game one. The 2016 NCAA Selection Show will be Monday, May 30th on ESPNU at noon.
Game 1 – Princeton 6, Yale 2
Box Score | Highlights
Despite being one of the best pitchers in the Ivy League this season, Powers almost always threw the second game of a doubleheader or series. Bradley noted that during the first game of each series, the junior writes notes about each opponent's hitters and formulates his game plan for his start.
Whatever game plan he came up with from notes in game one, Powers executed in sparkling fashion to force a decisive game three.
The La Canada, Calif., native retired the first seven of eight hitters he faced and then had another stretch of 10 consecutive outs before finishing with seven fantastic innings of work. He struck out a career-high eight Yale Bulldogs, gave up just four hits, two runs and picked up his sixth win of the year, tied for the most in the Ivy League.
Arendt paced the Tigers' offense with his four hits while sophomore Asher Lee-Tyson contributed two hits, two RBI and a run from the nine-spot in the lineup.
The first scoring opportunity of the game was when Princeton loaded the bases in the second behind two hits and a walk for Lee-Tyson. The sophomore continued his outstanding series by ripping a base hit up the middle that tallied two runs for the Tigers. A balk gave Princeton its third run before Arendt laced a knock to center that scored freshman Jesper Horsted.
Freshman Max West recorded his first career RBI with a run-producing single in the third inning to make the score, 5-0. Yale's Tom O'Neill provided the first hit for the Bulldogs with a home run in the bottom of the frame. That hardly fazed Powers as he retired the next 10 hitters.
Princeton posted its sixth run on a sacrifice fly by senior Danny Hoy in the fourth frame.
Yale put together a string of hits in the sixth to get its second tally. Simon Whitehead doubled to center with two out and then touched home on a single from Richard Slenker. After a walk and error loaded the bases, Powers got a ground out to end the inning.
In the seventh, the Princeton starter gave up a lead-off double, but concluded the frame with two ground outs and a strikeout. Junior Chris Giglio allowed two hits over the eighth and ninth, but Yale couldn't put together a threat, forcing a game three.
Game 2 – Princeton 2, Yale 1
Box Score | Highlights
Lee-Tyson had half of the Tigers' six hits in game two while Hoy also added two hits to lead Princeton. After giving up two doubles and a run in the first three batters of the game, senior Cameron Mingo went the distance, striking out five hitters. He tallied his sixth victory of the season which tied him with Powers and Yale's Scott Politz for the Ivy League lead.
Following Slenker's run-scoring double in the first, Mingo bounced back by striking out four Yale hitters and scattering four hits from the third through sixth innings.
“The first inning was a little tough, but I just tried to settle down and pitch my game,” said Mingo. “I know if I did what I had to do, we'd score some runs and come out on top.”
Princeton's first scoring chance came when it got a runner to second base in the third, but Yale's starting pitcher Eric Brodkowitz threw a 4-6-3 double play ball to escape the jam.
With a runner on, the Tigers thought they tied the game in the seventh as junior Zack Belski belted a long fly ball into the left center field gap, but Yale's Tim Degraw ran it down. Another Tigers' chance came an inning later as Horsted swiped second base with two out, but a lineout would move the game to the ninth.
Down to its potential last at-bat of the season, Princeton's winning rally started with a hit by Hoy. A walk by junior Danny Baer and Belski hit-by-pitch load the bases with no out. The next hitter, freshman Joseph Flynn, was also hit-by-a-pitch, tying the contest at 1-all. Yale would make a pitching change, bringing in Drew Scott. Scott got a strikeout, but then threw a wild pitch that scored Baer and sent Princeton to the NCAA Tournament.
“It's a tricky spot,” noted Baer about scoring the winning run. “It's one out, bases loaded, on a line drive, I can't move, so I don't want to get too far off the base. I saw the ball kick and heard coach (Lloyd) Brewer yell go and I just started running. Andrew Christie was there waiting for the hug and it was a really cool moment.”
After the jubilation of winning the title, Mingo reflected on the team's accomplishment, “You know, I don't know if there's a single word to describe it. It's everything we've hoped for.” Baer discussed how the team put together this stellar run, “The heart we showed bouncing back from last season is a testament to our coaches, our senior leadership and everyone buying in.”