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 Mascaro
Sun Assistant Sports Editor