March 26, 2005

Box Score

Princeton, N.J. - The Princeton baseball team split a doubleheader with Stony Brook for the second time in as many days on Saturday afternoon at Clarke Field. Junior Erik Stiller won a pitcher's duel as the Tigers won 2-0 in the opener, while the Seawolves used a five-run first inning to take the second game by a score of 7-1.

Although the games were played at home, Princeton (4-11) was considered the visitor for both contests as the games were moved to Clarke Field because of poor field conditions at Stony Brook (7-13).

The story of the first game was pitching. Neither team was able to score through the first seven innings, so an eighth inning was needed to determine a winner. In the top of the eighth, junior Matthew Becker battled back from an 0-2 count to walk. He went to second on a sac bunt and moved to third when senior Will Venable flew out to the warning track in right center. With junior Andrew Salini at the plate, Becker scored when Stony Brook reliever Robert Leonard uncorked a wild pitch to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. Princeton made it 2-0 in that at bat when Salini hit his third homer of the season to right field.

Stiller pitched all eight innings for Princeton and allowed no runs on five hits. He is now 2-1 on the season and he lowered his team-best ERA to 2.74. Kris Bakey pitched seven scoreless innings for the Seawolves, but did walk Becker in the eighth and that run went against him as he took the loss.

In Game 2, Stony Brook jumped to a 5-0 lead in the first and never looked back. The leadoff batter in the bottom of the first, Andrew Larsen doubled to center and then four consecutive batters walked and a pitch hit a fifth. Another run scored on a fielder's choice, before a second batter was hit. That chased Princeton sophomore starter Wills Sweney for freshman Steven Miller. Miller was able to get the final two outs, but the damage was done as the Seawolves held a 5-0 lead.

Stony Brook added a run in the second to make it 6-0, before the Tigers chipped off a run in the third. Freshman Spencer Lucian drew a leadoff walk and after stealing second, scored when junior Ryan Eldridge singled to center field. Stony Brook would add a run in the eighth to reach the final score of 7-1.

Sweney fell to 0-2 as he allowed five runs in a third of an inning. Miller pitched three and two-thirds innings and allowed a run on two hits. Freshman Christian Staehely pitched a pair of scoreless innings and senior Brian Kappel pitched the final two, allowing a run on a hit and two walks.

Tom Koehler scattered six hits and allowed a run through seven innings for the win. Kurt Jung pitched two scoreless innings.