Erik Stiller and the Tigers head south for a week of games.

March 10, 2005

Princeton, N.J. - The Princeton baseball team will kick its season into gear with 10 games over the next 10 days, beginning with a game tomorrow afternoon at William & Mary. During the trip, the Tigers will also play games against Longwood, North Carolina, North Carolina A&T and Old Dominion.

Princeton opened the season with a pair of one-run losses last weekend at Richmond. After a rainout on Saturday, the teams played a doubleheader on Sunday. Princeton jumped to a 6-0 lead in the opener, on the strength of four home runs, but four errors in the field helped Richmond to a comeback 7-6 win. Junior Ryan Eldridge hit two homers and junior Andrew Salini and senior Paul Ackerman each added one. In the second game, Richmond scored twice before Princeton could chip a run off in a 2-1 loss.

Offensively, the Tigers are led by Eldridge, who went 3 for 5 last weekend with three hits, two homers and five RBIs as he made his return to the Tiger lineup after taking the 2004 season off from school. Sophomore Kevin Liao and freshman Spencer Lucian each went 1 for 3 and are batting .333. The Tigers are a collective .190 at the plate in two games thus far this season.

On the mound, several Tigers started the season strong last weekend. Sophomore Gavin Fabian started the first game and pitched four scoreless innings, allowing just one hit in that span. The other game's starter, junior Erik Stiller also pitched four innings and allowed two runs on six hits. Sophomore Wills Sweney provided two perfect innings of relief in that game, and will likely be Princeton's third starter for the upcoming weekend.

The Tigers begin the trip with a three-game set at William & Mary, playing Friday at 3 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. Princeton last faced Williams & Mary in 2003 and split a four-game series. From there, it is on to Longwood for a 2:30 p.m., start on Monday in the first meeting between the two schools.

The Tigers set up shop in North Carolina on Tuesday, meeting the Tar Heels at 2 p.m., on both Tuesday and Wednesday. It will be the fourth-straight season that Princeton has spent the Tuesday and Wednesday of Spring Break facing UNC. Last season the Tar Heels took both games.

On Thursday afternoon, Princeton head to Greensboro, N.C., for a game at North Carolina A&T. The teams met for the first time last season and the Aggies earned a 10-9 victory. Princeton completes the week with three games at Old Dominion. Princeton took all three meetings from the Monarchs a season ago.