Baseball Takes on Princeton in Four Game Series

By | April 30, 2004

The magic number is one for the Princeton baseball team to repeat as Gehrig Division champions this weekend in a four-game set with the Red. The two teams, which have met 189 times — Princeton holds a 114-73-2 edge over Cornell — will play a twin-bill at Hoy Field today before heading to New Jersey for another doubleheader Sunday afternoon at Clarke Field. The Tigers need just one win over the Red to clinch the top spot in the four-team division.

Yet, a clean sweep of the Tigers by the Red would lead to a showdown between Cornell and Columbia in a makeup game to decide the division champion.

Princeton (21-17, 9-7 Ivy) could have locked up the division crown last weekend against Penn, but the Quakers rallied to win the last two games of the four-game series, winning 8-3 and 9-7. In the first doubleheader, the Tigers feasted on Penn’s pitching staff, putting up a combined 36 runs in the two wins. The 36 runs marked a new school record for total runs in a doubleheader, which the Tigers had set just a week prior.

The powerful Tiger offense notched a 13-run sixth inning in game one of the doubleheader, which they held on to win, 22-11.

Princeton lost their lone midweek contest, a 6-4 decision at the hands of St. John’s, despite junior outfielder B.J. Szymanski’s sixth home run of the year.

Meanwhile, the Red comes in to the weekend after losing two of three games to Columbia and splitting a doubleheader with Siena. The Red took game one of the doubleheader with the Saints, 2-1, behind a strong effort from senior Dan Gala. Gala went four innings, scattered four hits and allowed no runs to improve to 3-4 on the year. Gala had solid relief in the form of sophomore Michael Hudson, who went two innings, giving up just one earned run on one hit and a walk, and freshman Blake Hamilton, who earned his first career save after pitching a scoreless seventh inning.

A large chunk of the offensive production for the Red came from sophomore Seth Gordon, who exploded for three RBIs on four hits and two runs scored. Gordon, the new leadoff man for the Red, has upped his batting average to .287 with 15 RBIs.

Last season, the Tigers took three out of four from the Red to clinch the division as well as home field for the Ivy League Championship Series (ILCS). The Red took the first game of that series before getting blitzed by a combined score of 32-5 in the final three contests.

Looking ahead to the ILCS, the winner of the Gehrig Division will have to play two of three games on the road at either Dartmouth or Harvard. The Crimson need to win three games against the Green to force a one-game playoff, or a clean sweep to win the Red Rolfe Division.

Archived article by Chris Mascaro
Sun Assistant Sports Editor

Baseball Falls to Princeton in Three Out of Four

By May 3, 2004

Four games, four wins. This statement summed up the baseball teams’ only hopes for a Gehrig Division crown prior to this weekend’s four-game set with Princeton. Indeed, the Red had four games, but just one win as the Tigers took home their second consecutive Gehrig title. The first of two doubleheaders between these two ballclubs was played Friday on Hoy Field, with Princeton (24-18, 12-8 Ivy) taking the first game, 14-2. Princeton came out swinging in the seven-inning contest, scoring three runs in the first inning, with the big blow coming from Will Venable’s single to drive in two runs. The Red (12-29, 6-13) tacked on two in the bottom half of the inning, as freshman Kaleb Hutchinson drove in sophomore Seth Gordon, and then senior co-captain Dan Parant scored on shortstop Matthew Becker’s error. Yet, that would be all the scoring for the Red, as the team mustered just six hits in the contest. Gordon led the Red at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a walk, a run scored, and a stolen base, while Hutchinson and senior Ned VanAllan tallied RBIs. The Princeton lineup torched the Red for six runs in the second inning off senior Dan Gala, who started the game and lasted just 1 1/3 innings. Gala gave up seven hits and eight earned runs while walking two and striking out three. Gala took the loss to fall to 1-5 on the season. Gala was relieved in the second by sophomore Michael Hudson, who lasted just 1/3 of an inning, after allowing one earned run on two hits and two walks. Senior Sam Sinkavich closed out the second inning for the Red, but he too needed relief, after giving up two unearned runs in the top of the fourth. Sinkavich left after giving up four hits and one walk, while striking out one Princeton hitter. Junior Matthew Light, the Red’s fourth pitcher of the game, finished up the fourth inning with no problem. However, he was tossed around by the Princeton lineup for a run in the fifth inning and another two in the sixth. The growl in the Tiger offense came from B.J. Szymanski, who contributed five hits to Princeton’s 20 overall in five at-bats, scoring three runs and driving in four. The Red bats came alive in the second game of the doubleheader as the lineup smacked 10 hits in a 7-5 victory. The Red took an early 1-0 lead as sophomore William Pauly hit a sacrifice fly to score Gordon, and then went up 3-0 in the fourth on senior David Bredhoff’s double which plated two. Junior Tad Bardenwerper, who got the win to improve to 2-4 on the season, went 6 2/3 innings, giving up two earned runs in the top of the sixth. He allowed eight hits and three walks in the game. Freshman Blake Hamilton pitched 2 1/3 innings in relief — giving up three runs in the top of the ninth — but it wasn’t enough as the Red plated one in the seventh and two in the eighth to make its lead 7-2. The Red was led at the plate by Parant, who was 3-for-4 with two runs scored, and an RBI, and VanAllan, who was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a walk. The Red had less success in its doubleheader with Princeton yesterday on Clarke Field in New Jersey. In a 4-1 loss in game one, the Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead after three innings, before Hutchinson scored the Red’s only run of the game off a stolen base and a wild pitch. Senior Luke Staskal suffered the loss, dropping him 1-5 on the season, after going six innings and giving up four runs — three of them earned — on four hits and five walks. He struck out four Princeton batters. At the plate, the Red, who tallied just five hits in the seven-inning affair, was led by VanAllan and Pauly, who were each 2-for-3. The Red managed 12 hits in the second game, a 3-2 loss, but left 10 runners stranded on base. The Tigers scored all three of their runs in the fourth and fifth innings, and held a 3-0 lead before the Red tallied a run after three straight singles in the top of the sixth to score VanAllan. The Red made it a 3-2 ballgame in the seventh on a double by Gordon and a Princeton error. Yet, that is the way the game would end as the Red couldn’t push another run across the plate. The leaders for the Red at the plate were VanAllan, who was 2-for-4 with a run scored, Gordon, who was 2-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, and a run scored, Bredhoff, who was 2-for-4 with an RBI, and junior Matt Miller, who was 3-for-5 with a stolen base. Gala fell to 2-5 after six innings, as he gave up three runs — two of them earned — on seven Tiger hits, and four walks. Sinkavich struck out two in his two no-hit innings in relief. The Tigers will travel to face Red Rolfe Division champion Dartmouth next weekend in the Ivy League Championship Series, after a game with Rider on Wednesday. The Red will close out its season today, as it plays host to Columbia in a make-up game. Archived article by Chris MascaroSun Assistant Sports Editor
M. Lax Wins Second Straight Title

By May 3, 2004

On a day set aside to honor Cornell’s seniors, it was a freshman who stood out. Red goaltender Matt McMonagle made four crucial second-half saves as he and the team held on for a 10-9 victory over Brown. The win earned Cornell the league’s automatic NCAA tournament bid, and at least a share of the Ivy title. “[McMonagle] did a great job. At the end, I thought they were taking some tough shots on them,” said head coach Jeff Tambroni. “He made some huge saves down the stretch, one on a extra man when he made a foot save, and he did enough to give us a win. Hopefully that’s going to give him the confidence he needs for the rest of the year and hopefully for the rest of his career.” “I couldn’t be happier to get this win for the seniors,” McMonagle said. “I’m feeling pretty good, I feel I’m starting to get on a role. I have a lot of high expectations for myself, and at times I haven’t felt like I’ve given myself a chance to get there.” Cornell quickly got off to a torrid pace, earning the first goal of the game at 0:52 when senior Tim DeBlois fed junior Sean Greenhalgh to catch Brown off guard while transitioning to defense. Sophomore Joe Boulokos made it 2-0 a few minutes later as Cornell continued to cycle the ball in Brown’s end. The Bears evened things up with a late first- and early second-period goal, but then Cornell began to pull away. Five different players combined for a two-period, seven goal run that put Cornell ahead 9-2 by the early third quarter. Brown, however, was not ready to concede defeat. The Bears quickly began chipping away at Cornell’s lead. “I thought we took good shots. [Brown goalie Mike] Levin made some nice saves early, and then I just asked them to stay the course,” Tambroni said. “We didn’t want to get away from what we’re doing. The key with Brown is if you take five-to-seven-yard shots, you’ll have success. If you take anything more than that, Levin is too good of a goalie to give him that long to see the ball because he’ll make saves. At the end, he made some tight saves, and we were taking some three- or four-yard shots.” Senior Andrew Collins scored on an assist from classmate Dave Pittard, but the lone fourth-quarter goal was not enough to swing the momentum back to Cornell. Brown senior Chazz Woodson later scored two goals in three minutes to make the score 10-8, yet with 3:13 left to play Cornell remained confident. “Our last four games have ended the same way,” DeBlois said. “I think we’ve just shown the kind of courage and tenacity that our team has shown throughout the year. It’s no coincidence that we bounced back after something so traumatic like that. When we get in those situations, I look around and there’s no panic. We’ve been there before.” Brown tallied a final goal with 12 seconds left to make the score 10-9, but Cornell smothered the ball, and any chances of Brown forcing overtime, as the clock wound down. “I think it was great that we put ourselves in a position to be able to still pull out a victory after that comeback they made,” Collins said. “They happen to be a very good team and good teams are going to go on runs like that. I thought that we handled ourselves well, and the defense was able to get a good stop and we pulled out a win.” While Cornell has secured the league’s NCAA tournament bid, it’s hopes for an outright Ivy League title rest with the Bears. Brown plays Princeton next weekend, and a Tiger loss would give Cornell it’s first outright Ivy championship in 17 years. The team will focus on preparing for Hobart on Friday. A win over the Statesmen would greatly improve the Red’s chances of hosting a first-round NCAA tournament game in two weeks. The team will then await the result of the Brown-Princeton matchup on Saturday and the identity of its eventual opponent in the first round of the national tournament. “The 2002 year gave this group an opportunity to be in the position to be successful. They never were in that game before, in that situation to understand how to prepare to be successful,” Tambroni said. “This team has had that great fortune. I think that might be a big part of why we won today, we’ve been there before and they dug in and got a stop when they needed it, and the rest is history.” Archived article by Matt JanigaSun Senior Editor