After days of torrential rain and a forecast not showing signs of letting up, the Hopkins men’s baseball team had no other choice but to postpone their doubleheader against Haverford. The game will be rescheduled for a later date.
The Blue Jays have been out of action since March 22, due to rainy weather and cancellations, but finally they were able to hit the field on Tuesday April 1st, against the Dickinson Red Devils.
Coming into the game with a 12-2 record, the Blue Jays were ready to get back to action. However, it was Dickinson who started the game strong, thwarting the Blue Jays’ energy and momentum. The Red Devils went up early with two runs in the top of the first. Hopkins left two stranded as the inning came to a close.
As they maintained the lead, Dickinson drove in two more runs bringing the score to 4-0 as the Blue Jays took the plate in the bottom of the second. Hopkins sophomore Kyle Gillen and senior John Maxwell both drove in a run respectively, bringing the deficit back to two as the inning came to a close.
The Red Devils started off the third in the same way, getting their first two runners on base with no outs. With two outs, Dickinson freshman Ryan Dolan hit a single driving in a runner from third. The Red Devils were now up 5-2 before Blue Jay senior RHP Zach Augustine forced a lineout to end Dickinson’s inning.
The Blue Jays only allowed one hit from the Red Devils in the top of the fourth before taking the plate with the score still standing at 5-2. Fueled by their two-out rally, Hopkins came out strong in the bottom of the fourth. After both junior Craig Hoelzer and Gillen walked, Maxwell stepped up to the plate. With an RBI single driving home a runner, Hopkins once again only trailed by two. Dickinson forced a groundout from Hopkins junior Colin McCarthy to bring the inning to a close with a score of 5-3.
Neither teams would score in the fifth. In the top of the sixth, Dickinson’s Dolan doubled to right and would advance to third off of a wild pitch. On a fielding error by Blue Jay’s third baseman, Dolan would score. No other runs were scored in the inning bringing the score to 6-3.
Heading into the seventh off of a two-out rally, Dickinson had all the motivation to effectively end the game. The Red Devils had the bases loaded when junior Steven Haynes hit a double, driving in two runs. Dickinson’s Tursi would follow with a single bringing home two more runs. A pair of singles from Red Devils’ Matt Primavera and Henry Milano would force another run home before Hopkins sophomore RHP Ross Lazicky forced a Dickinson strikeout and ended the inning. The Red Devils now led 11-3, leaving little hope for a Blue Jay comeback.
Hopkins was able to drive in two runs in the eighth, however it would not be enough as Dickinson RHP Ryan Kramer retired the side in the bottom of the ninth, ending the game with a score of 11-5.
Dickinson senior Joseph Tursi finished 3-for-6 at the plate with four RBIs, as the Red Devils used a five-run seventh inning to hand Hopkins its third defeat of the season. The loss marks the first Blue Jay defeat to the Red Devils since April 13, 2009, and drops Hopkins to 12-3 on the season with a 0-1 Centennial Conference record. Dickinson improves to 15-2 (1-0 CC) with the win.
Hopkins will have an opportunity to even the series with Dickinson this Friday, April 4, when the team travels to Carlisle, PA to face the Red Devils at 3:30 p.m.
Although the Blue Jays suffered a tough loss on Tuesday, they earned a small reprieve when the team received a national ranking of 17. The American Baseball Coaches Association/Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division III Poll released their weekly rankings on Tuesday and had the Blue Jays ranked 17th nationally.
The Blue Jays were also ranked 16th in the American Baseball Coaches Association/Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division III Poll released on Tuesday. Acquiring 236 points, Hopkins jumped up one spot in the rankings from last week. The Jays will look to get back on track by returning the favor to Dickinson this upcoming Friday.
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