Baseball bests Bears, clinches Centennial

Due to weather conditions, the doubleheader, originally scheduled for Saturday, was postponed to Sunday, which allowed the Jays an extra day of rest after Friday’s victory against the Franklin & Marshall College Diplomats.

“Winning both of them and clinching home field for the Conference Tournament was a great feeling,” sophomore pitcher Preston Betz said.

During the first game of the day, Hopkins and Ursinus went scoreless for four innings, with Betz striking out two and surrendering two hits.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Bears got themselves on the scoreboard after two hits. Although the Bears were the first to score, the Blue Jays quickly tied the game. The Jays have outscored their opponents 62-11 in the sixth inning alone on the season, so it is no surprise that Hopkins scored in the top of the sixth.

Senior catcher Ryan Orgielewicz singled to left field, freshman infielder Mike Eberle worked a walk and junior catcher Alex Darwiche sacrifice bunted to advance each base runner. Senior outfielder Jon Hayden popped up a sacrifice fly to send Orgielewicz home, making the score 1-1.

In the seventh inning, the Blue Jays scored three more runs. The inning started with walks from senior shortstop Conor Reynolds and senior outfielder Brian Lin. Junior third baseman Mike Smith hit a single to load the bases. Orgielewicz reached on a fielder’s choice, and Reynolds ran home. Eberle hit a crucial single to clear the bases, extending their lead to 4-1.

Sophomore pitcher Sean McCracken, who came in for Betz, only allowed the Bears one more run before the end of the game and struck out three batters in the ninth inning. The final score was 4-2.

After a 30-minute break, the Jays went right back onto the field for their second face off with the Bears.

Similar to the previous game, the Bears started on top, gaining a 2-1 lead in the first inning. After three scoreless innings, the Bears further improved to 3-1 after earning a run in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Both teams scored in the sixth inning, with Orgielewicz hitting a solo home run.

Along with an impressive outscoring record in sixth innings, the Jays outscore their opponents 135-31 in the sixth through eighth innings. Continuing the trend, the Blue Jays came out from behind to gain a 5-4 lead at the end of the seventh inning.

Senior outfielder Tommy Mee hit a leadoff double, sophomore outfielder Tim Kutcher sacrifice bunted and Reynolds singled to send Mee home. After their first run of the inning, Lin singled, Smith walked and Orgielewicz hit a two-RBI double.

“Ryan [Orgielewicz] had two huge hits in the second that built our momentum for the comeback win,” Betz said.

In the top of the eighth, Hopkins unsurprisingly earned two more runs. Following another hit by Mee and a sacrifice bunt by Kutcher, Reynolds earned an RBI triple, and Lin earned an RBI single.

Defensively, the Blue Jays did not have their strongest performance, making five errors and allowing multiple unearned runs.

Despite their struggles in the field, the Hopkins pitching staff only surrendered two runs. Junior starting pitcher Alex Ross, senior pitcher Cameron Mineo, junior pitcher Nick Burns, sophomore pitcher Harrison Folk and sophomore pitcher John Donohue all saw time on the mound during the second game.

Donohue and Folk struck out two batters each. Burns earned the win, and Donohue earned the save, each pitching one inning.

The pair of victories on Sunday improved the team’s winning streak to 11 games, 10 of which included the Blue Jays facing a deficit.

Despite an off-day against Muhlenberg, the Blue Jays have had a nearly undefeated Conference schedule with a 13-1 record.

“Our mindset is that we’re the best team out there. We’ve got all the talent and preparation to get ahead in games and keep us ahead until it’s over,” Betz said.

With a non-Conference game against Randolph-Macon College scheduled last-minute, Hopkins has the opportunity to face a ranked team and a potential opponent in the NCAA Tournament.

Along with their match-up against Randolph-Macon, the Jays still have to face Dickinson College and Washington College in Conference play before the Tournament.

“We want to keep our win streak going and ride it into the Tournament,” Betz said. “It’ll be interesting to see who makes the Conference Tournament. Haverford has had our number for the past couple of years, so it’ll be interesting to see if they make the Tournament. We’re also ranked pretty high in the top 25, so we should have a high seed for whatever region we’re placed in [for the NCAA Tournament].”

The Jays will return to Babb Field at Stromberg Stadium at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, April 28 for their second face off against Washington College.