In a historic double-header against Swarthmore, the Johns Hopkins baseball team (14-3, 4-0) swept the competition on Saturday, March 29 at Homewood. Swarthmore (7-8, 1-3) fell to the Blue Jays 12-1 in the first game, and then again by a score of 18-2 as Hopkins extended their winning streak to 10 games. The first win in the double-header marked head coach Bob Babb's 800th victory. He now has a record of 801-283-10 in 29 seasons as the Jays head coach. He is the 12th coach in Division-III history to reach the honored mark.
In the first game of the day, it was Hopkins who was on the scoreboard first when they had two runs in the first inning and three more in the second to take a solid early lead at 5-0. Both senior DH Matt Bencherner and senior shortstop Jonas Fester had home runs in the first two innings, which carried the early lead. In the fifth inning, two more runs were added to the five, and Hopkins finally exploded for five more in the bottom of the sixth. Senior center fielder Rob Pietroforte swung away a three-run homer to left center right before junior first baseman Dave Garber had his signature pinch-hit home run. Garber has had a pinch-hit homer in the last four games.
On the defensive side of the ball in game one, the Blue Jays did not disappoint. Junior pitcher Chez Angeloni took it to the Garnet when he went all seven innings and carried the Jays to a no-hitter well into the top of the seventh. Swarthmore tried to rally a bit of a comeback when they broke the no-hitter streak with back-to-back doubles, but that was all they would get going. Angeloni came back strong to finish the game with nine more strike-outs and walking only one to take the Jays to the 12-1 victory.
So what was the secret to the first game success? Or, going even farther, what has been driving this team to win game after game? Sophomore catcher John Swarr gives some credit to the veteran players.
"Our seniors have really led this team this year," Swarr said. "In the offseason they really pushed us and convinced us that this year is going to be special, not only with their hard work in the offseason, but with their play so far this season."
Swarr's team would show just how special this year is going to be with a sound victory in game two. After a short break, when the Jays and Garnet re-took the field, Hopkins had no intention of letting up at all. The Jays continued their offensive slaughter in the bottom of the second inning when they put seven up on the scoreboard. After sending 11 men on base, the inning finally ended, and Swarthmore went swinging for two runs in the top of the third to make it an 8-2 game. The Jays would get those back and more soon enough, when they scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth to make it 12-2. One of the highlights of the fifth was a two-RBI double from sophomore right fielder Brian Youchak.
Prior to Saturday's game, the most runs Hopkins had scored in a game this season was 17, when they played McDaniel the day before. In the bottom of the eighth, the Jays would add six more runs, making it 18, breaking their own record. Swarr had an RBI double that scored two of the six in the inning, while fellow sophomore right-fielder Brendan Walsh batted his second homerun of the year. Another noted offensive play of the inning was when junior Dan Merzel hit a successful sacrifice fly in the inning.
Defensively, the Jays were right on the mark, just as they were in the first game of the day. Senior pitcher Brian Duddie earned the game two "W" after permitting only two runs in six innings and striking out four.
Following the spectacular double header against Swarthmore, Youchak was named the Centennial Conference Player of the week, making him the third-straight Blue Jay to win the honor. Youchak started his week with a 3-for-3 performance in the Centennial opener against McDaniel, and in the doubleheader against Swarthmore, he was a combined 2-for-6 with three runs scored and three RBIs. Last week, he hit .583 in the four games, and he is a perfect 6-for-6 in stolen base attempts.
As a whole, the team is having an amazing season so far, statistically. They have not only outscored its opponents 63-6 last week, but they have also out scored its opponents 137-41 in their 10-game streak. The Jays are also on a record-breaking pace for bases stolen. As a team they are 52-for-62 in attempts this year, and the team is led by Pietroforte, who is 14-for-14.
Looking ahead for the games to come, one almost has to wonder if this team will break the awesome momentum they have going. Does the team look a few weeks ahead to get ready for a tough rival down the road? Swarr says no.
"We have a message board in the locker room that reminds us to take things one game at a time.?It's difficult not to look forward to the big games on the schedule, but each day we have to focus on the task at hand," he said. "Any team can beat another given the right circumstances."
Those circumstances will be hard to have against the Blue Jays. The next couple games on the schedule have been postponed due to bad weather, but that doesn't matter in terms of the momentum.
"We are going out with the same mindset as we do every game," Swarr said. "We just want to keep this roll going as we get deeper into our league schedule."
After they add to the depth of that schedule on April 2 against Washington College, the Jays travel to Washington, D.C. to face Catholic on Thursday, April 3.
