April 27, 2003

Box Score - Game 1

Box Score - Game 2

BALTIMORE, MD - The Johns Hopkins baseball team used solid pitching to sweep Muhlenberg College in a Centennial Conference doubleheader on Sunday and moved closer to earning the top seed for the conference playoffs next weekend.

The Blue Jays, 26-4 overall, won the opened 6-1 and took the nightcap 3-2 to remain in first place in the league with a 13-2 mark. JHU can clinch the top seed for the playoffs with a split in a doubleheader at Ursinus on Monday. Muhlenberg, which concluded its conference schedule with a 10-7-1 mark, fell to 19-11-1 overall and remains a game ahead of Gettysburg in the win column for fourth place in the conference.

Senior Jeremy Brown (Baltimore, MD/McDonogh School) reached double figure strikeouts in his second straight start as he led the Blue Jays to victory in the opener. Brown (6-2) struck out 11 and allowed just one run on five hits in his fourth complete game of the season. He has 25 strikeouts in his last two starts, a total of 16 innings, and a team-high 60 strikeouts for the year.

Hopkins opened the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the first as sophomore Mike Durgala (Annandale, VA/Thomas Jefferson) drove in senior Jay Cieri (Pine Brook, NJ/Montville) with a single to left field and sophomore Paul Long (Oklahoma City, OK/Heritage Hall) plated sophomore Mike Spiciarich (Syosset, NY/Chaminade) with a base hit up the middle.

Muhlenberg cut the margin to one on a solo home run by Matt Long in the top of the second, but JHU answered with one run in the second and one in the third to extended the lead to 4-1. In the second, Cieri belted his fifth home run of the season, a solo shot, to left field for a 3-1 advantage. Sophomore Paul Winterling (Glenelg, MD/McDonogh School) then doubled to lead off the third inning, stole third base and scored on a groundout by Durgala.

Hopkins capped the scoring in the fifth as Durgala drove in Cieri with a single up the middle and junior Craig Cetta (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) brought in Spiciarich with a sacrifice fly to center field.

Gregg Burkhart took the loss for the Mules as he allowed six runs on seven hits while striking out four in six innings.

In the second game, all of the scoring took place in the first two innings. Justin Graf gave the Mules a 1-0 lead in the top of the first as he led off the game with a home run to right center. The Blue Jays answered with a run in the bottom of the inning to tie the score as Spiciarich doubled and scored two batters later on a groundout by Durgala.

Muhlenberg regained the lead with the help of two errors in the top of the second, but Hopkins would answer once again. In the bottom of the inning, junior Tim Casale (West Hempstead, NY/Chaminade) gave JHU the lead for good as he drilled a two-run home run, his third of the season, over the wall in right field.

Blue Jay starter Matt Righter (Clarion, PA/Lawrenceville Prep) held the Mules in check until the top of the seventh when Muhlenberg loaded the bases with one out. Junior Sven Stafford (Evanston, IL/Evanston) was brought in for relief and got Brian LaRochelle to ground into a game-ending double play with his first pitch.

The save was Stafford's second of the season, while Righter remained perfect at 4-0 as he allowed one earned run on nine hits in 6.1 innings. He struck out five and walked three as Hopkins extended its winning streak to nine games.

Matt Cooper gave up three runs on 10 hits in 4.2 innings as he suffered the loss for Muhlenberg.

The Blue Jays are next in action on Monday as Hopkins travels to Collegeville, Pennsylvania for a conference doubleheader against Ursinus beginning at 1:00 p.m.

Game 1 Line Score 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 -R H E
Muhlenberg (19-10-1, 10-6-1) 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 -1 5 0
#11 Johns Hopkins (25-4, 12-2) 2 1 1 0 2 0 x -6 7 0
Winning Pitcher- Jeremy Brown; Losing Pitcher- Gregg Burkhart
2B- JHU: Winterling
HR- MC: Long; JHU: Cieri

Game 2 Line Score 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 -R H E
Muhlenberg (19-11-1, 10-7-1) 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 -2 9 0
#11 Johns Hopkins (26-4, 13-2) 1 2 0 0 0 0 x -3 12 3
Winning Pitcher- Matt Righter; Losing Pitcher- Matt Cooper; Save- Sven Stafford
2B- JHU: Spiciarich, Durgala, Long
HR- MC: Graf; JHU: Casale