Baseball finishes the week with four

The Johns Hopkins Baseball team went a perfect 4-0 last week,
improving its overall record to 23-4. More importantly, the Blue Jays
are perched in first place in the Centennial Conference, rebounding
nicely from two losses in a double-header against Franklin &
Marshall.

An 8-1 victory over then first-place McDaniel on Monday afternoon and
two wins over Haverford last Saturday bolstered Hopkins conference
record to 10-2. The Jays now control their own playoff destiny and are
in a prime position to win the Centennial. An important byproduct of
winning the regular season crown would be receiving the No. 1 seed in
the conference tournament. As long as they win each of their remaining
six conference match-ups, the Blue Jays will end up as the top seed in
the Centennial Conference Tournament, which will be held Friday, May 2
through Sunday, May 4.

"I think another conference championship is definitely in the mix,"
remarked sophomore outfielder Eric Nigro, "but it all depends on these
last few conference games."

Hopkins pecked away at McDaniel's starter early in the game, which
pitted the top two teams in the Centennial against each other on Monday
afternoon in Baltimore. The Blue Jays scored one run in each of the
first two innings on singles by sophomore first baseman Mike Durgala
and junior shortstop Tim Casale. McDaniel climbed back within a run of
the Blue Jays in the top of the fourth inning, but this was as close as
they would get.

Senior co-captain Jeremy Brown pitched a gem, giving up just one earned
run in nine innings and striking out a career-high 14 hitters. This was
Brown's third complete game of the season, as he improved his record to
5-2. The Blue Jays' offense ignited in the bottom of the fourth inning,
scoring three runs courtesy of a two-run double by senior outfielder
and co-captain Joe Urban and another RBI single from Casale. Casale
finished the day 3-for-4 with two RBI and has done a admirable job
filling in for injured junior Carl Ippolito.

In the subsequent inning, sophomore second baseman Mike Spiciarich
doubled and later scored on a sacrifice fly from Durgala, making the
score 6-1 in favor of the Jays. Sophomore third baseman Paul Long
capped the scoring with solo home runs in the sixth and eighth innings,
putting the exclamation point on the Blue Jays 8-1 victory.

"We played a great game and did all the things we needed to do to win," stated freshman pitcher Tim Denning.

This crucial victory came on the heels of a double-header sweep of
conference rival Haverford College on Saturday, April 19 in
Pennsylvania. Hopkins took the first game 10-0 thanks to an offensive
surge and a two-hit shutout by junior right-handed pitcher Russell
Berger. Hopkins started off strong, scoring five runs in the first
inning and adding three more in the second frame. Durgala, Long, Casale
and junior outfielder Craig Cetta were each credited with RBIs in the
first inning.

Cetta then increased his RBI total to four with a three-run home run,
his fourth of the year, in the second inning. Hopkins would tack on one
more run in both the fourth and fifth innings to grab a 10-0 lead that
it would not relinquish. Berger's first shutout of the season improved
his record to 5-0. The right-hander walked only one and struck out two
in seven strong innings of work.

Hopkins scored early in the second game of the doubleheader but
struggled offensively after that. The Blue Jays jumped out to a 1-0
lead in the top of the first inning on senior outfielder Jay Cieri's
fourth home run of the year, but that was all Hopkins could muster
until extra innings. The score would remained 1-0 until the bottom of
the seventh, but Haverford managed to bring home their first run of the
day, knotting the score at 1-1 and forcing extra innings.

But the Jays answered right back. In the top of the eighth inning,
Casale singled and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Cieri, and
then to third on a flyout. He finally crossed home plate when sophomore
outfielder Paul Winterling came up with a crucial double. This proved
to be the game winner, as Haverford was unable to respond in its half
of the eighth inning .

Junior Matt Righter and sophomore Ryan McConnell combined to hold Haverford scoreless for the first five innings.

After Brown gave up the tying run in the bottom of the seventh, junior
Sven Stafford pitched a perfect eighth to pick up his first save,
preserving a 2-1 victory, which was credited to Brown.

"A lot of times our offense is inconsistent," commented Nigro. "We've
shown that we can put up 10 runs in a game and then turn around and
struggle to score two runs in eight innings."

Offense was not at all lacking in the Blue Jays' game against Villa
Julie, though, defeating the non-conference opponent in Baltimore last
Wednesday, April 16. Hopkins seized a 3-0 lead in the first inning on
an RBI fielder's choice by Nigro and a two-run double by junior catcher
Bryan Eberle.

However, Villa Julie answered back with three runs of its own in the
bottom of the second to tie the score. Nevertheless, Hopkins plated one
run in each of the next three innings to gain a 6-3 advantage.

Then, in the sixth inning, Hopkins put up three runs, highlighted by a two-run home run by Eberle, his third of the season.

The Blue Jays would score once more in the seventh, and Villa Julie
would score twice in the top of the eighth to make the final score
10-5. Freshman Jim Flannery earned the win, pitching seven solid
innings and only giving up three runs. Freshman Jason Thayer and
sophomore Jason Hochfelder finished out the final two innings for the
Blue Jays.

Not only did the Blue Jays excel from a team standpoint over the past
week, but they also received a few stellar performances from individual
players.

Berger and Winterling were honored as co-players of the week in the
Centennial Conference for their outstanding achievements. Berger was
2-0 with a complete game shutout, while Winterling went 7-for-19 with
10 runs scored, four home runs, and 15 RBI.

The Blue Jays will wind down their season with six conference games and
a challenging non-conference contest. They will battle Washington
College at home on Thursday at 3:30 p.m., and then host a doubleheader
against Muhlenberg on Saturday at 1 p.m. On Sunday, Hopkins will take
on Gettysburg at home at 2:30 p.m.

Hopkins will also have to make up the doubleheader against Ursinus that
was postponed due to rain, and they are currently planning to play
perennial powerhouse Montclair State in New Jersey at 7 p.m. Monday.
This should provide valuable experience for the playoffs, which are
less than two weeks away.