Hopkins baseball is enjoying a four-game winning streak where they've outscored their opponents by a daunting 48-11 to beat Muhlenberg twice and notch big wins against Villa Julie College and Montclair State. That's par for the course after coming off their recent eight-game winning streak where they scored 10 or more runs four separate times, twice touching 15 and above. Unfortunately, there were two games in the middle of these streaks.
After a doubleheader sweep at the hands of second-place Franklin & Marshall by scores of 2-3 and 8-10, the Jays find their once-spotless Centennial Conference record tarnished and their post at the top of the standings in jeopardy. At 13-3 in conference, the Diplomats are a game behind Hopkins (14-2 in conference, 28-6 overall) with two conference games left for each of the two teams. Franklin & Marshall will face the weak McDaniel Green Terror (4-12 in conference, 9-20 overall) while Hopkins heads to Haverford, Pa., to face the perennially tough Fords, who sit at 9-7 in conference, currently just outside a playoff spot. Last season the Fords upset the Jays in the Centennial Conference Tournament, ending Hopkins' season. The Diplomats then won the tournament for the second year in a row. The Jays, of course, are looking forward.
"[Franklin & Marshall] showed us we have a little bit of work cut out for us," senior closer and co-captain Brian DeLeo said. "If we want to win the region, we have to show up and play every time we face a tough team."
The Jays did show up against the Diplomats, but unfortunately only half of them showed up at a time.
"When we got good pitching we weren't able to hit and when we had good hitting we weren't able to pitch," DeLeo said.
Game One, only supposed to be seven innings long as is the custom of Division III doubleheaders, had to go into the eighth after the teams ended regulation knotted at 2-2. The Diplomats twice took a one-run lead and Hopkins twice battled back to tie the score.
"It felt like a heavyweight fight, back and forth and back and forth," junior center fielder Rob Pietroforte said, "and unfortunately we came out on the wrong side."
Junior righty Joe Zaccaria pitched a sterling ballgame, but Franklin & Marshall came out on top after a Billy McGuire walk-off single in the eighth drove in the game winner. The Diplomats won, 3-2.
The nightcap featured something the Jays are certainly used to seeing: a seven-run inning. Only they're not used to one being notched against them. The Diplomats rode a seven-run third to a 10-8 victory. Again Hopkins fought and kept it close, and again it just wasn't enough.
"Walks really killed us that inning. A lot of guys got on base without swinging the bat," Pietroforte said.
Sophomore starter Chez Angeloni gave up four free passes in his 2.1 innings of work, including two in the Diplomats' breakout third. But he and junior right-hander Greg Gotimer, who came on in relief of Angeloni, also gave up six hits in the inning, all singles. They combined with a costly error from freshman third baseman Lee Bolyard to create a perfect offensive storm for Franklin & Marshall.
But Hopkins was not to be silenced just yet. After the third, the Diplomats were up 9-1, but the Jays' offensive gears were starting to turn. A pair of doubles from junior designated hitter Tony Margve and Bolyard put runners at second and third to set the stage for sophomore first baseman Dave Garber. And he took full advantage.
"Dave hit a big home run for us," Pietroforte said. "The first of his career."
All told, the Jays scored six runs off of seven hits in the fourth inning, vaulting them back in the game. They scored another in the eighth when senior right fielder Brett Izzo drove in senior catcher and co-captain Rob Sanzillo, bringing the Jays within one.
But that was as close as they got. The Diplomats took the run right back in the bottom of the frame and then cruised through a lazy ninth to seal the 10-8 win.
"It was pretty frustrating," Pietroforte said, "We knew going in how important those games were for us."
But all is not lost for the Jays - in fact, far from it. A doubleheader sweep against Haverford this weekend would clinch first place for the Jays, allowing them to host the conference tournament. They made that possible after a quick recovery from the Franklin & Marshall losses, taking out their frustrations on hapless Muhlenberg, whom they beat 13-2 and 14-3 in a Sunday doubleheader. This time the Jays were on the right side of a seven-run first.
"After we scored seven on them in the first, Muhlenberg was done for the rest of the day," Pietroforte said.
The Jays added two non-conference wins for good measure, taking down Villa Julie, 11-1, and Montclair State, 10-5. The big wins seem to have recalibrated the Blue Jay offense as they head into the deciding games of the regular season versus Haverford.
"Our goal the entire season has been to win the region," DeLeo said, "and if we can clinch home field advantage for the conference tournament, then we'll be well on our way to doing that."
