March 18, 2003

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - Junior outfielder Craig Cetta (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) belted a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to lead Johns Hopkins past Widener, 4-3, in non-conference baseball action this afternoon in Baltimore.

Cetta crushed a 2-2 pitch off the scoreboard in left-center field, his second home run of the season, with two outs to give the Blue Jays a 4-3 lead. Freshman Jason Thayer (Finksburg, MD/Westminster) pitched 1.2 scoreless innings to earn his first career win as Hopkins improved to 9-1 on the year.

Brant Gadzicki, who pitched the final inning for the Pioneers, suffered the loss to fall to 2-1 on the season. Widener dropped its fifth consecutive game to fall to 3-8-1 overall.

The Pioneers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning as Phil Sherry drilled a 1-1 pitch over the wall in left off Blue Jay starter Ryan McConnell (Lancaster, PA/Penn Manor). Hopkins tied the score in the bottom of the fourth as sophomore Mike Durgala (Annandale, VA/Thomas Jefferson) hit his team-leading fourth home run of the season over the left field fence.

Widener answered with two runs in the top of the seventh on a one-out double to the right center gap by Matt Barber. B.J. Hogan, who reached on a walk, and Bo Fischer, who was hit by a pitch, both scored on the play as the Pioneers took a 3-1 lead. The Blue Jays cut the margin to 3-2 in the bottom of the inning as Durgala doubled and later scored on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Mike Spiciarich (Syosset, NY/Chaminade).

Junior Tim Casale (West Hempstead, NY/Chaminade) started the rally for JHU in the bottom of the eighth with a two-out single to left. He then stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch before Cetta hit his home run.

McConnell allowed just one run on four hits while striking out eight in a solid start for Hopkins. Sophomore Jason Hochfelder (Braircliff Manor, NY/Hackley) also pitched a scoreless third of an inning for the Blue Jays, while junior Matt Righter (Clarion, PA/Lawrenceville Prep) allowed two runs, his first of the year, in two innings of relief.

The Blue Jays return to action Wednesday as Hopkins plays host to Elizabethtown in a non-conference game at 3:00 p.m.

Line Score 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 -R H E
Widener (3-8-1) 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 -3 7 0
Johns Hopkins (9-1) 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 - -4 8 2

Winning Pitcher - Thayer (1-0); Losing Pitcher - Gadzicki (2-1)
2B - WU: Sherry, Barber; JHU: Durgala
HR - WU: Sherry; JHU: Durgala, Cetta