PRINCETON, N.J.-

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Schedule

Wednesday – Harvard – 1:00 PM –

Ironman

Jacob Faulkner had quite the weekend against the Cornell Big Red. In game two of the series, Faulkner worked 3.0 scoreless innings and punched out three to get the save. The very next day, the senior got the nod to start on the bump. Faulkner worked a complete game with eight strikeouts, allowed just two earned runs and matched a career high eight strikeouts to get the win and keep Princeton’s season alive. Faulkner tossed 165 total pitches across the 12 innings and is now one appearance shy of tying the program record for career appearances (65). had quite the weekend against the Cornell Big Red. In game two of the series, Faulkner worked 3.0 scoreless innings and punched out three to get the save. The very next day, the senior got the nod to start on the bump. Faulkner worked a complete game with eight strikeouts, allowed just two earned runs and matched a career high eight strikeouts to get the win and keep Princeton’s season alive. Faulkner tossed 165 total pitches across the 12 innings and is now one appearance shy of tying the program record for career appearances (65).

Going Yard

Caden Shapiro knocked home runs in back to back games against the Cornell Big Red. Jake Bold added a two-run blast to take the lead in the second game of the doubleheader for his eighth of the season. knocked home runs in back to back games against the Cornell Big Red.added a two-run blast to take the lead in the second game of the doubleheader for his eighth of the season.

Pitching Performances

Andrew D’Alessio and Jacob Faulkner racked up new career highs in strikeouts in the doubleheader against Harvard. D’Alessio also tossed 8.0 shutout innings and did not walk a batter in the win over the Crimson. Liam Kinneen recorded a new career high against the Cornell Big Red with seven punchouts. andracked up new career highs in strikeouts in the doubleheader against Harvard. D’Alessio also tossed 8.0 shutout innings and did not walk a batter in the win over the Crimson.recorded a new career high against the Cornell Big Red with seven punchouts.

20 Piece

Caden Shapiro had a fantastic day at the plate for the Orange and Black with two home runs, going 3-for-6. He added three runs and four RBI. The Tigers’ offense exploded for 20 runs in the midweek matchup against the Rider Broncs. Princeton knocked 14 hits with four extra base hits. The last time Princeton scored at least 20 runs came in a 21 run performance in 2022 against Towson.had a fantastic day at the plate for the Orange and Black with two home runs, going 3-for-6. He added three runs and four RBI.

Koonin Is Cooking

Jake Koonin knocked a In the season opener against Miami,knocked a

An All-Ivy second teamer last season, Koonin owned the highest batting average on the team in 2024 at .319 and started in all 44 games for Princeton. Koonin racked up 22 doubles and four home runs.

Welcome To The Show

Nick Shenefelt and Liam Kinneen got comfortable quickly in their first home games and Ivy League opening series. Shenefelt racked up a .462 average and 1.375 OPS on the weekend against the Big Green. The utility player knocked two triples, one double and five RBI across the three games. The freshman pair ofandgot comfortable quickly in their first home games and Ivy League opening series. Shenefelt racked up a .462 average and 1.375 OPS on the weekend against the Big Green. The utility player knocked two triples, one double and five RBI across the three games.

Kinneen made his fifth start of the season on the mound and tossed 7.0 shutout innings and struck out four on his way to a .86 WHIP.

Weekly Honors For Episcope

Sean Episcope was named the Ivy League Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season. In the outing against the Liberty Flames, the sophomore pitcher worked 5.0 innings of one-hit ball and did not allow an earned run. Episcope added five punchouts and held the Liberty offense to a .063 batting average was named the Ivy League Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season. In the outing against the Liberty Flames, the sophomore pitcher worked 5.0 innings of one-hit ball and did not allow an earned run. Episcope added five punchouts and held the Liberty offense to a .063 batting average

Downed the Demon Deacons

Liam Kinneen got the start and tossed 5.2 innings of work and allowed three runs on five hits. A big fourth inning would be just what the Tigers needed to collect its first win of 2025. Seven runs on five hits came in for Princeton before Jacob Faulkner closed it out for a 7-6 final. The ranked win is Princeton’s first since 2023. Princeton went into the matchup against No. 12 Wake Forest 0-7 on the year. When the teams met just two days prior, the Demon Deacons squeaked by thanks to two unearned runs.got the start and tossed 5.2 innings of work and allowed three runs on five hits. A big fourth inning would be just what the Tigers needed to collect its first win of 2025. Seven runs on five hits came in for Princeton beforeclosed it out for a 7-6 final. The ranked win is Princeton’s first since 2023.

Firepower From Faulkner

Jacob Faulkner returns to the lineup for the Tigers after collecting unanimous First-Team All-Ivy honors in 2024. returns to the lineup for the Tigers after collecting unanimous First-Team All-Ivy honors in 2024.

After putting together a career year on the mound, Faulkner was named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List. The senior notched eight victories, four saves and a 3.14 ERA in 20 appearances with 52 punchouts in 66 innings pitched. Faulkner got the save in the win against Wake Forest and is now five shy of the program record and extended his streak of to nine straight wins following the victory over William & Mary.

Jakes At The Plate

Jake Bold and Jake Kernodle helped add some power on offense for the Tigers just a season ago. The pair combined for 84 hits, 10 doubles, four triples, and eight homers. Bold owned a .295 average while Kernodle sat at .286, good for second and fourth respectively at the conclusion of the 2024 season. Bold and Koonin lead Princeton’s offense with a combined 12 doubles, 16 home runs and 48 RBI. andhelped add some power on offense for the Tigers just a season ago. The pair combined for 84 hits, 10 doubles, four triples, and eight homers. Bold owned a .295 average while Kernodle sat at .286, good for second and fourth respectively at the conclusion of the 2024 season. Bold and Koonin lead Princeton’s offense with a combined 12 doubles, 16 home runs and 48 RBI.

Oh Captains Our Captains

Andrew D’Alessio , Jacob Faulkner , and Caden Shapiro will serve as the captains of the 2025 squad. , andwill serve as the captains of the 2025 squad.

Preseason Poll

The Tigers were voted No. 4 in the Ivy League preseason poll

Last year’s regular-season champion, Columbia, was unanimously voted the preseason favorite with 128 points and all 16 first-place votes.

New Kids At Clarke

Isaac Lamson , James Beasley , Nick Shenefelt , Joseph Zorc , Grant Werdesheim , Liam Kinneen and Will Robbins will add depth to the Princeton roster as three infielders, two pitchers and two utility players. The Tigers welcomed seven new members to the roster as part of the Class of 2028.andwill add depth to the Princeton roster as three infielders, two pitchers and two utility players.

Tigers On The Road

The squad is set for tons of travel this season with 34 contests coming on the road. The Tigers will travel to Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and throughout New Jersey.

The Princeton baseball team is heading back to Cambridge to take on the Harvard Crimson in the postponed matchup from April 13. The contest serves as a must win game for the Tigers in order for the squad to have a chance to secure the final spot in the Ivy League Tournament.base hit to break the program’s record for longest hit streak with 22 consecutive games. In the 14 inning thriller between Princeton and Dartmouth, Koonin hit a walk-off single to plate two runs to win the game for the Tigers. The junior recorded a .385 batting average with four RBI.with 80 points.

Princeton is coming off a home weekend sweep of George Mason, with the Tigers defeating the Patriots 3-1 on Friday and 3-0 on Saturday.

With the wins, Princeton’s record improved to 11-9 overall and 7-1 in the EIVA, leading the conference table.

Nyherowo Omene again led the Tigers, posting 26 kills on the weekend and a team-high 35.5 points. He also added five aces, as the EIVA active career leader brings his career total to 132 and his season average to a league-best 0.48/s.

again led the Tigers, posting 26 kills on the weekend and a team-high 35.5 points. He also added five aces, as the EIVA active career leader brings his career total to 132 and his season average to a league-best 0.48/s. Defensively, Omene logged 18 digs on the weekend, also making nine blocks as the Tigers held George Mason to just .088 hitting.

Ryan Vena made 13 blocks on the weekend, also notching four aces, 12 kills. His 11 blocks in game one were an EIVA single-match high.

made 13 blocks on the weekend, also notching four aces, 12 kills. His 11 blocks in game one were an EIVA single-match high. First-year Mason Rice had 24 kills on .405 hitting across both matches, going along with eight digs and 11 blocks. He had nine blocks during Friday’s game and hit 15-2-20 for .650 on Saturday.

had 24 kills on .405 hitting across both matches, going along with eight digs and 11 blocks. He had nine blocks during Friday’s game and hit 15-2-20 for .650 on Saturday. Wedbush dished out 73 assists, one kill, two aces, five blocks and 12 digs while guiding the Tigers to .330 hitting on the weekend.

Princeton leads the EIVA in eight stat categories, among them hitting percentage (.278), points per set (15.40), and blocks (2.53/s).

The Tiger defense also leads in opponent hitting percentage (.215) and opponent kills (10.85).

Nationally, the Tigers rank fifth in blocks per set, 13th in opponent hitting percentage and 20th in hitting percentage.

Omene currently leads the EIVA in points per set with 5.05, also ranking second in hitting percentage (.334) and kills per set (4.12).

Sophomore Tristan Whitfield currently ranks third in the EIVA in blocks per set with 0.96 and a total of 54 on the season, as the 2024 EIVA Freshman of the Year continues to be a defensive powerhouse for the Tigers.

currently ranks third in the EIVA in blocks per set with 0.96 and a total of 54 on the season, as the 2024 EIVA Freshman of the Year continues to be a defensive powerhouse for the Tigers. First-year Roan Alviar leads the Tigers and ranks fifth in the EIVA with 1.75 digs a set.

leads the Tigers and ranks fifth in the EIVA with 1.75 digs a set. The Tigers were picked to finish fourth in the EIVA preseason standings.

Omene and Wedbush were named to the 2025 EIVA Players to Watch list. Both seniors were named to the All-EIVA First Team at the conclusion of last season.

The Tigers are led by Sam Shweisky , who has coached the Tigers to 2 EIVA Championships and 6 EIVA Finals. Shweisky is in his 16th year as head coach of the Princeton men’s volleyball program, and he is assisted by Joe Norton in his second year.

Harvard is 9-10 on the season and 5-3 in the EIVA, putting them in second in the league standings.

The Crimson is coming off three consecutive 3-0 victories over George Mason, Daemen and most recently, Dominican.

Zach Berty ranks third in the league in hitting percentage with .293, while Logan Shepherd has 2.50 kills a set this season for a team-high.

James Bardin leads the Crimson in assists with 503 on the season for 8.38/s.

Brian Thomas is fourth in the league in blocks with 0.94 a set, while Thomas Phung leads the EIVA in digs with 1.98/s.

Princeton is 14-15 all-time against Harvard, with the Tigers and the Crimson splitting last season’s series in Cambridge.

Game 1: Friday, April 11 at 7 p.m.Game 2: Saturday, April 12 at 4 p.m.At the top of the EIVA standings with the end of the regular season approaching, the no. 19 Princeton men’s volleyball team will host Harvard for its final regular season home series of 2025 this weekend. The Tigers and the Crimson will face off at 7 p.m. on Friday and 4 p.m. on Saturday.Saturday will also mark senior day, as the program celebrates its seniors in the class of 2025. To learn more about this year’s graduating Tigers,and, click here

It was never supposed to happen. After losing 16 straight games to start the 2025 season, the Crimson gathered in the locker room for a team meeting. The frustration was obvious. Something needed to change.

“We all talked, and you’re just like, ‘What is going on? Fix it’,” sophomore right-hander Truman Pauley said. “We’re so behind on everything. Our record’s already terrible.”

Weeks later, not much had changed.

On April 11, the Harvard baseball team dropped its 20th game of the season — a 1–0 loss to Princeton at O’Donnell Field that left the Crimson staring down a 4–21 overall and 2–8 in Ivy League play. Any dreams of a postseason felt distant at best.

But just an hour later, Pauley took the mound in the second game of a doubleheader. The pressure was building — and in the blink of an eye, everything began to turn around.

Over 8.1 innings, Pauley held Princeton hitless — striking out 12 Tigers and walking just three — before a double in the ninth inning broke up the no-hitter. Harvard won 3–2.

If Pauley had completed the game without giving up a hit, he would have been the first Harvard pitcher to throw a no-hitter in Ivy League competition since 2018 — and only the second to do so since 2001.

The team didn’t know it then, but that win wasn’t just a win — it was a turning point.

“Going out in the ninth today, that’s the best experience I’ve ever had,” Pauley said in a postgame interview with Harvard Athletics. “I wasn’t that dialed in until the eighth inning. And I was like, ‘Oh, Coach is letting me go for it. I really gotta try and lock in right now.’”

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From that moment on, the Crimson locked in for the rest of the season.

‘A Lot of Adversity’

Harvard opened the 2025 season with an unforgiving road slate — 15 straight games away from home, including series against Big Ten and SEC opponents. The Crimson went 0–6 at neutral sites and dropped three straight in Florida by a combined score of 35–6. By March’s end, they had been swept by Penn and had an embarrassing 2–13 record.

Even back home, the losses continued to mount. By the time Princeton arrived in mid-April, Harvard had dropped seven of its last nine Ivy League games. A particularly brutal 1–17 defeat at Yale only deepened the team’s struggles. With a dismal 4–20 record, Harvard’s postseason hopes appeared all but out of reach.

But inside the Harvard baseball clubhouse, the energy was shifting.

“There was a lot of adversity at the beginning of the season,” senior George Cooper, who finished his Crimson career tied for sixth all-time in hits, said. “Clearly, our record was not as good as this team is. The team chemistry, the focus factor, the love of the game — it was at an all-time peak.”

George Cooper ’25 celebrates after scoring a run By Briana Howard Pagán

Lighting the Fire

After the standout performance from Pauley, Harvard began to gain momentum.

The Crimson took two of three games from Cornell, then swept Brown on the road in a three-game offensive explosion that saw the team score 29 runs. But the following week brought a harsh reality check, as Harvard suffered a brutal home sweep at the hands of Columbia — including a lopsided 1–19 loss.

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Despite the setback, the Crimson still had a path to the Ivy League playoffs. To get there, the team needed a win in its regular-season finale against Princeton — a game that had been postponed due to rain — and some help from Yale.

On May 7, Harvard delivered, closing out the regular season with a 5–3 victory over Princeton. With a 9–12 conference record, its postseason hopes rested on a tiebreaker — and a Yale sweep of Dartmouth.

It all came together.

“Honestly, it was an awesome, awesome opportunity that we got to play in the tournament,” Cooper said. “We did our thing, beat Princeton, and then sat there waiting, watching. It’s an incredible feeling to do all that you can and then still have the ball in someone else’s court. Us getting that opportunity — it lit the fire under us.”

The Crimson embraced its underdog status.

“We were saying we were playing with house money,” Cooper added. “It was just so infectious among the whole team — this love, this passion, and this will to prove the world wrong.”

Harvard opened the Ivy League Tournament by stunning top-seeded Yale, 3–1, on May 16. The team couldn’t have done it without strong performances from the pitchers — Fang’s six-inning, one-run performance and junior Gio Colasante’s three RBIs. The next day, the Crimson met Columbia.

Enter Pauley.

Facing the Ivy League’s most consistent offense, Pauley delivered a postseason gem: nine innings, 13 strikeouts, one unearned run, and just five hits. His 13 strikeouts set a new Ivy League Tournament record,

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“The adrenaline was like, well, higher than anything I’ve ever experienced. It was pretty insane to be in those situations,” Pauley said.

Though Harvard ultimately fell 4–1 in extra innings, Pauley’s performance stands among the most dominant in program history — postseason or otherwise.

“He had one of the best pitching years I’ve ever seen,” Cooper said. “It’s hard to be fearless and pull the best out of your teammates, but Truman did that.”

After the brutal loss to Yale earlier in the season, Harvard baseball came back for revenge when it mattered most in an elimination game. Harvard finally fell to Columbia in the tournament final, finishing as Ivy League playoffs runner-up.

“It was just amazing to beat Yale twice. We loved it. We loved every second of it. It was so personal,” Cooper said.

“If I went back to that day, we had the team meeting, like I would have never predicted that we would have been in the championship of that tournament,” Pauley said.

Going the Distance

Pauley, Fang, and Colasante were all named to the Ivy League All-Tournament Team. Colasante hit .412 with two home runs, six RBIs, and a save. Fang held Yale to a .200 average. And Pauley etched his name into the Ivy League record books.

Over his final five starts, Pauley struck out 41 batters in 29.1 innings, and allowed just 11 earned runs. His command, poise, and postseason dominance marked one of the best pitching stretches in Crimson memory.

The final record — 14–28 overall, 9–12 Ivy — doesn’t capture the energy of the last four weeks. For a program that reached an NCAA Regional only once since 2005, the resilience of the 2025 team that was on the doorstep of another one signaled a new trajectory. The team’s growth — and Pauley’s leadership — weren’t lost on veterans like Cooper.

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“He’s a young guy in a really crucial role, one of the pillars of our pitching staff, and he stepped up in so many ways,” Cooper said. “He’s growing into his own. He’s becoming a leader — already is a leader.”

For Harvard baseball, 2025 was a season defined not by where it began, but by where it refused to end. And with Pauley still just a sophomore and Colasante and Fang having a year of play in them, they’re not done yet — and are promising to return to the mound next year, stronger than ever.

“The team’s going to be a lot better next year,” Pauley said. “People are going to get stronger and faster, and the focus is going to be there. Because we know we can make it, and the confidence will be there.

“There’s not going to be people that are going to doubt that we can go the distance,” he added.

—Staff writer Dhruv T. Patel can be reached at dhruv.patel@thecrimson.com . Follow him on X @dhruvtkpatel.

—Staff writer Saketh Sundar can be reached at saketh.sundar@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @saketh_sundar.