Four straight wins keep Baseball in first place

The Johns Hopkins Blue Jays bounced back in a most impressive fashion from their first Centennial Conference defeat of the season, surging to a four game win streak and strengthening their first place standing.

Having outscored their opponents 46-6 in the past week, the Blue Jays are now 26-5 overall and 12-1 within the Centennial Conference.

Returning home to face Dickinson College after a controversial umpiring decision cost the Blue Jays a chance at an undefeated Conference record, the Blue Jays emphatically triumphed 20-2.

Ace starter senior Yani Rosenberg threw seven strong innings and every starting position player had at least one hit in the romp. Junior right fielder Joe Urban, freshman left fielder Paul Winterling and sophomore shortstop Carl Ippolito all hit home runs and contributed three runs batted in.

Senior third baseman John Krivonak hit a solo home run and drove in another run with a single that managed to scored Ippolito, who had doubled leading off the sixth inning.

Senior first baseman and Ben Taylor sophomore catcher Doug Hitchner also drove in two runs a piece. The Blue Jays pounded out 21 hits and scored in every inning except the fourth.

Rosenberg meanwhile struck out seven and allowed only five hits and one earned run before being relieved by senior Jason Setty.

Senior Mark Jarashow pitched a scoreless ninth inning to close the game. The loss dropped Dickinson to 4-6 within the conference.

However, despite their opponents' poor record, the Blue Jays took a special pride in this defeating the team who had broken their 10 game winning streak. Head Coach Bob Babb said afterwards, "Revenge always feels good."

The following day, April 13, Hopkins traveled to Swarthmore for a Centennial Conference double header.

In the first game, Junior Jeremy Brown pitched perhaps his best game ever, going the distance on a three hitter. Brown mixed his pitches well in an eight strikeout performance, improving his record to 3-0 on the season.

Senior second baseman Karl Sineath and senior first baseman Ben Taylor led the offense with two hits and one stolen base each. Krivonack contributed two hits as well, and sophomore centerfielder Craig Cetta drove in Hopkins third run with a sacrifice fly to left scoring freshman third baseman Mike Durgala. The final score was 3-0.

The second game of the double header proved to be another low scoring affair. The Blue Jays trailed 4-1 heading into the sixth inning. Then they loaded the bases with two outs and Hitchner at the plate. Hitchner blasted a bases clearing double to tie the game.

With the game tied heading into the bottom of the sixth Coach Babb left sophomore closer Sven Stafford in to finish out the contest. Stafford held Swarthmore scoreless over the final two innings and earned the win as the Blue Jays offense scored twice in the top of the seventh for the 6-4 win.

Junior left fielder Jay Cieri, who had three this on the day, got the rally started singling to leadoff the inning. Ippolito followed with a walk and both runners advanced on Taylor's groundout to the pitcher. Then, Durgala hit what should have been a routine sac fly to center field, but Swarthmore centerfielder Brandon King's throw went wild and allowed both Cieri and Ippolito to score.

Returning home to face Gettysburg, the Blue Jays once again sent Rosenberg to the mound. Rosenberg threw five innings of one hit ball, though according to his manager, Coach Babb, "he did not have his best stuff, and he still threw a shut out."

Whether or not Rosenberg was at his best or not, he struck out four before giving way to three other relievers to combine for the 17-0 blanking of the conference rival. Seniors Neal Lynch and Mike Overstreet, and Stafford combined for four innings of scoreless relief. Meanwhile the offense had a field day.

Leadoff hitter Karl Sineath went 3-5, scored three runs, smashed two doubles and had two RBI's. Twenty-eight batters reached base, 16 by hits, 9 drew walks and three others were hit by pitches.

The Blue Jays are now 26-5 and 12-1 in Conference, one game ahead of second place Franklin & Marshall, and are doing their best to please their manager.

Coach Babb is impressed by the way his defense is playing and is excited by "the pitching staff settling into a nice groove." Referring to his two senior leaders, Rosenberg and Sineath, Coach Babb pointed out, "Neither have hit their full potential yet."

The Blue Jays are hitting .354 as a team and are averaging over 10 runs per game. Hopkins next faces Gettysburg on Friday.

The Blue Jays also set a team record last week by recording their 50th home run of the season, breaking the old record of 45 homers that was set by the 1998 team.

The record-breaking homer came against Villa Julie as sophomore Mike Stankus hit a three-run shot.

The Jays, who are on pace to hit 66 home runs, have 17 players who have hit at least one home run during this season. A staggering 11 players have hit three or more homers this year.