PU baseball Stiller has chance at Gehrig

Junior hurler helps avoid Columbia sweep

By: Justin Feil
   The last three weekends, the Princeton University baseball team has come off a second-game loss and given the ball to Erik Stiller for the third game of the weekend.
   Every time, the Tigers junior has delivered. Sunday, his latest gem — a complete-game four-hitter in which he struck out eight — gave Princeton its only win, 8-1, in four games against Ivy League Gehrig Division cellar dweller Columbia. There was no specific reason that Stiller was given the regular Game 3 starting role for the Ivy League season, but it’s worked out well.
   "We’ve had couple situations where we didn’t do well Saturday," said PU head coach Scott Bradley. "It’s kind of a pressure spot. Erik handles it well. It’s great to have a guy who can help salvage a weekend. That has enabled us to stay in it. Erik’s been a rock for us."
   With the Lions taking three out of four, and Cornell sweeping four from Penn, the Big Red take a one-game lead in the Gehrig Division race with the two teams set to square off this weekend. Princeton hosts a doubleheader Friday and then travels to Ithaca, N.Y. where it will hand the ball to Stiller again in a game that will have all the pressure he’s faced in each of the past three weekends rolled into one start, unless the Tigers are swept Friday.
   "Friday is key," Bradley said. "We’ve got Cornell coming in here. We have to keep ourselves in it. If we have good day, we’ll be in good shape."
   That’s because Stiller, who doesn’t consider himself a streak-stopper per se, will be going again in the third game of the series, and Eric Walz, who lost despite 8Ð incredible scoreless innings, 2-1, when an error in the ninth inning put the tying run in scoring position and the bullpen couldn’t shut the door. The Tigers feel confident if they can get to Sunday’s doubleheader without a loss on Friday.
   Stiller, the only PU starting pitcher with a winning record, will be looking for his seventh win of the season Sunday. He has lost just once and has an ERA of 2.61. He has 45 strikeouts vs. single-digit walks. It’s part of steady progress from the right-hander from Bryan, Texas. Last year he was 4-4 with an ERA of 3.96. As a freshman, he was 1-4 in seven starts.
   "Last year was OK," Stiller said. "This year, I’ve got a lot more confidence in my fastball. It has helped me challenge hitters more so as opposed to last year when I relied more on my change-up. It’s still a big pitch for me. In conjunction with the fast ball, a more effective fastball makes my change-up more effective."
   "For whatever reason, I’ve just competed better this year when I’ve had to," he added. "With men on base, I’ve found ways to get outs. And our defense has really picked me up. Those things combined have kept runs off the board and I’ve had good run support, stronger run support than I remember."
   It has been the Princeton bats that carried the club through some of its earlier Ivy success, and the Tigers still hit well this weekend, though most of their hits were right at Columbia fielders. More importantly, while Stiller has received fine defense behind him, not every other pitcher has had the same results.
   "Our defense has hurt us throughout the year," Bradley said. "It showed in Sunday’s second game. We took a 1-0 lead in the eighth. And then on a routine grounder, our infielder throws it into the dugout and they have the tying run at second. It’s not the way you want to start off the ninth inning.
   "But we played much better yesterday. We competed much better than Saturday. We know we could have won the second game, and now we have to go to Cornell and win three out of four."
   Stiller has had pressure starts all season and this Sunday at Cornell should be no exception. He’s well aware of what he and the Tigers will be facing this weekend.
   "We put ourselves in a bit of a hole," Stiller said. "There’s pressure going into next week. We always expect to be able to win. Cornell has shown themselves to be a good team. They’re on a roll now so they’ll be a challenge. I think we match up to them at every level. Our hitting should match up. Our pitchers, I think all four guys had good weekends, so we have pretty good momentum to face their hitting. I think we have good momentum going in. We’re always confident we can take three out of four. We’re confident we can handle it."
   Stiller came into the season with higher expectations for himself. In his third year as an Ivy League starter, he expected the Tigers to rely on him more than in the past. Stiller is the eldest of the weekend starters with Gavin Fabian and Walz both being sophomores and Christian Staehely being a freshman.
   "Coming in, I knew that Gavin and Eric Walz and myself are all returning starters," Stiller said. I knew the three of us would have to step up, especially after losing Ross (Ohlendorf, a senior who was selected in the major league draft and signed). I knew my role would be more significant. How much more was how much I stepped up. I’ve had success with that.
   "It’s about what I expected. I didn’t expect to be thought of as a stopper. I think all four of our starters are stoppers potentially. I think I’ve done pretty much what’s expected."
   It isn’t just what is expected of Stiller. It’s what is required of him.
   "When we recruited Erik, this was a guy we felt would come in and be an anchor in the rotation for a number of years," Bradley said. "He has. He’s turned into leader. He’s so focused. He’s one of the few pitchers we have, you can tell he gets a little edgy when his turn comes around. I wish that would come around to a few more of them. He’s always ready to go.
   "That’s why Friday is so important. We then have arguably the No. 1 pitcher in the league going Sunday and Eric Walz, who pitched great, after that if we need it. Erik’s been good for us. I couldn’t imagine where we’d be without him."
   Definitely not in position to take a 10th straight Ivy League Gehrig Division crown and set up the chance to make another trip to the NCAA Tournament.