Baseball takes double-header against Swarthmore

Extending their winning streak to eight games, the Johns Hopkins Baseball team earned four victories last week, including three that came against conference opponents. Their record now stands at an impressive 17-2 and they are a perfect 5-0 in Centennial Conference play.

The Jays will look to use their momentum during this weekend and the upcoming week, when they are faced with another string of tough conference games.

Despite winning all four games, Hopkins struggled at times during the week. Although the Jays tallied two victories in a doubleheader against Swarthmore in Baltimore last Sunday, April 6th, players were disappointed with the team's performance, as they nearly lost the first game and gave up eight runs in one inning in the second game.

"We felt good that we were able to get away with two wins," commented Russell Berger, a junior starting pitcher who improved his record to 3-0 with a win over Dickinson College on Friday, April 4th.

Senior co-captain and outfielder Joe Urban agreed with Berger about Sunday's games. "It wasn't the best day. It showed that if we don't take other teams seriously, we're going to have problems."

In the opening game of the doubleheader, scoring was low in the early innings. Hopkins brought home single runs in the first and fourth innings before the Swarthmore Garnet Tide put three runs on the board in the top of the sixth on four hits and a walk. The score stood at 3-2 until the bottom of the seventh, the game's final half-inning. With one out and a runner on second, sophomore centerfielder Paul Winterling crushed a home run to left-center, guiding Hopkins to a 4-3 victory. Junior Matt Righter earned the victory in relief, keeping the Garnet Tide scoreless for two innings after sophomore starting pitcher Ryan McConnell limited Swarthmore to three runs in five innings. McConnell struck out seven while walking four.

The offense that Hopkins had been struggling to scrape together in the first game came out with a bang in the nightcap. Hopkins scored a season-high twelve runs in the first inning to jump out to a 12-1 lead. The Jays racked up six hits and five walks in this inning and were aided by two Swarthmore errors. The Blue Jays sent 17 batters to the plate during the inning. The Jays gave back some of the lead in the next half-inning. Hopkins made three errors and the Garnet Tide took advantage of these mistakes to score seven times.

"We lost a little bit of focus after that first inning," noted Urban.

Still, 12-8 was the closest Swarthmore would get as the Blue Jays scored at least one run in each of the next five innings.

A surge of offense from all different members of the Hopkins baseball team lifted the Jays to a 23-8 rout of the Garnet Tide.

Winterling posted two hits, three runs and two runs batted in, and junior outfielder Craig Cetta contributed two hits, two runs and two RBIs to the victory.

Senior outfielder Jay Cieri scored four times in the game while sophomore third baseman Mike Spiciarich, sophomore first baseman Mike Durgala and junior Brian Morley each scored two runs.

Junior lefty Sven Stafford picked up the win, his second of the season, allowing eight runs (only three were earned) in four innings. Freshman Andrew Bail, sophomore Jason Hochfelder and freshman Jason Thayer each pitched an inning of scoreless relief to seal the victory for the Jays.

This doubleheader sweep followed an 11-4 victory over Conference opponent Dickinson College last Friday. The Jays broke the so-called "Dickinson Curse" that has plagued them in recent years when they have traveled to the school.

The game was originally suspended due to rain and darkness, but the Centennial Conference ruled it an official game on Monday, giving the victory to Berger, who allowed just two runs and struck out five batters in five and two-thirds innings of work.

Urban hit a home run for the Blue Jays, as did Durgala. Durgala went 3-for-5 on the day, scoring three runs. Spiciarich also had three hits in this abbreviated contest.

Last Thursday, the Blue Jays defeated Catholic University in Washington, D.C. by a score of 13-2.

The Blue Jays scored first in the second inning, jumping ahead with five runs. The scoring was highlighted by a grand slam by junior catcher Bryan Eberle.

In the next inning, freshman Gary Rosenberg increased the Blue Jays' lead to 6-0 with an RBI single. In the same inning, freshman infielder Corey Gleason hit his first career home run, a three-run blast down the left-field line.

Catholic responded with one run in the bottom of the third inning, but Hopkins remained in control, putting up three runs in the top of the fifth thanks to a two-run triple by junior infielder Tim Casale and an RBI single by junior outfielder Rob Morrison.

Catholic would add a run in the bottom of the eighth which Hopkins matched in the top of the ninth to make the final score 13-2. Adam Josephart allowed only one run in six innings to improve his record to 2-0 on the season.

Josephart is looking strong after having reconstructive surgery on his elbow last season.

"He's a great pitcher," remarked Berger. "What he has overcome makes his pitching even more impressive. He's been able to stick through it and work through his difficulties. Now he's at a point where he's going to contribute a lot to our team."

The Blue Jays have five conference games coming up next week. After making up Tuesday's rainout against Washington College, they will travel to Washington College on Friday and then to Franklin & Marshall for a doubleheader on Saturday.

Next Monday, the Jays will take on Neuman in Pennsylvania in non-conference action. On Tuesday, conference opponent McDaniel will host the Blue Jays. Hopkins returns home to play Villa Julie at 4 p.m. on Weds., April 16.

If Hopkins focuses on keeping up its caliber of play, they should have no problem extending their eight-game win streak.

However, as Sunday's games showed, they cannot take other teams lightly.

"When we play the weaker teams in our conference, we have a tendency to drop down to their level, but if we can stay up at our level, they can't compete with us," said Urban.