Baseball 2-2 in weekend games

After splitting a doubleheader against State University of New York (SUNY) New Paltz, Sunday, the Hopkins Blue Jays finished off the weekend with a 6-2 record in non-Conference play. Following a convincing win Friday against Johnson & Wales and a tough loss to William Patterson on Saturday, the Blue Jays won the first half of the double header and then dropped the second game.

Friday's game featured Hopkins surging ahead to an early 3-1 lead on sophomore first baseman Mike Stankus's first career home run. However, Johnson & Wales battled back, and tied the score at three, before Hopkins came to bat in the fourth inning.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Blue Jays took the lead on sophomore catcher Doug Hitchner's solo home run. Thanks to solid relief pitching, and a few more insurance runs, Hopkins cruised to victory by a final tally of 8-3. Senior Pitcher Yani Rosenberg earned his first win of the season, pitching two innings of scoreless relief and striking out three batters.

Saturday afternoon's affair pitted the No. 21 ranked Blue Jays against the No. 30 ranked team from William Patterson. In a game marred by messy weather conditions, including a brief rain delay, Hopkins fell 15-10. The Blue Jays jumped out to an early 5-0 advantage, before junior pitcher Jeremy Brown ran out of gas in the fourth inning. Brown, who was unable to record an out in the fourth, allowed seven hits and six earned runs. The Blue Jays managed to tie it up 9-9 only to watch the game slip away as William Patterson scored six consecutive runs. Senior first baseman Ben Taylor, sophomore outfielder Rob Morrison and freshman third baseman Mike Durgala all homered for the losing cause.

In Sunday's first game, frigid temperatures and outstanding starting pitching contributed to a quick paced, low scoring contest.

Hopkins sophomore starter Russ Berger pitched five solid innings of four hit ball, keeping the Blue Jays within one run. Meanwhile for New Paltz, starter Rich Bizelia took a no-hitter into the sixth inning.

Then, with one out in the sixth, senior catcher Tom Prevas got the Blue Jays attack started by singling. Prevas was lifted for a pinch runner, junior Jay Cieri. After singles by senior second baseman Karl Sineath and sophomore shortstop Tim Casale loaded the bases, sophomore outfielder Craig Cetta stepped to the plate. Cetta lofted a high fly ball to right field. New Paltz right fielder Jeff Lackaye misplayed the blast off of Cetta's bat, enabling Cieri to score the tying run. Due to extreme sun glare and a swirling wind, Lackaye was not credited with an error.

The bases were still loaded when Ben Taylor hit a sacrifice fly to deep center filed that scored Casale and Sineath.

Senior Jason Setty pitched the final two innings to earn the win. After the game, the focus was on the ball hit by Cetta that gave Lackaye so much trouble.

Hopkins right fielder Brian Morley sympathized with Lackaye, offering his assessment of the difficult fielding conditions:."The sun was right in my eyes the entire time, and the wind made the ball move and to make matters worse, it was freezing."

In the second game, Hopkins jumped out to an early 5-0 lead thanks to four shut out innings from sophomore pitcher Matt Righter. New Paltz came back in the later innings, and eventually won the game 7-6. Eric Kantner stifled the Blue Jays over the final 5.2 innings to earn the win.

Reached for comment after the weekend, Head Coach Bob Babb sounded enthusiastic about his team. Babb explained that he is pleased with the early season success, and is excited about "how well some of the younger players have responded. Our pitching is deep and the hitters have been a pleasant surprise."

Looking ahead to the team's upcoming Florida trip over spring break, Coach Babb added that he will "continue to play a lot of different people", and that he is "not concerned so much with wins and losses," as he is with "getting ready for Conference play." Babb acknowledged that the Blue Jays will face a tough schedule over their nine day trip, but reiterated that the main objective is to be ready for Conference play.