Venable and Hale make for rare Princeton matchup

ATLANTA -- Princeton head baseball coach Scott Bradley said earlier this week that he makes a point of watching the Padres game -- either live or taped -- to check in on his former pupil, Padres right fielder Will Venable.

You can bet Bradley will pay special attention to Friday's game against the Braves, not just because of Venable's place in the lineup, but the pitcher he'll be facing -- Braves rookie David Hale, who will make his Major League debut.

"You don't see that happen every day," said Padres manager Bud Black. "You just don't see a whole lot of Ivy League matchups."

Oddly enough, Venable -- who is hitting leadoff -- will be the first Major League batter that Hale faces.

It's believed that in the last 70-80 years, the only other time two Princeton alums have faced each other is when Venable faced former Padres teammate Ross Ohlendorf, when he was with the Pirates.

The Padres certainly have some Princeton history. Aside from Venable, former pitcher Chris Young won 33 games for the team from 2006-10.

One of manager Bud Black's former teammates in Kansas City was pitcher Bob Tufts, who also attended Princeton.