Box Score May 4, 2005
Final Stats
FREDERICKSBURG, VA - The Blue Jays scored four runs in the top of the ninth and Joe Zaccaria shut out the Eagles in their final at-bat, as #21 Johns Hopkins defeated #5 Mary Washington, 7-4, in its regular season finale at Dickinson Stadium. Hopkins improved to 30-7 overall, while Mary Washington fell to 26-8.
Down 4-3 to start the ninth inning, the Blue Jays scored four runs off three hits to take their first, last, and only lead of the game. Kevin Foeman hit Mike Durgala with his pitch and then walked Paul Winterling before giving up an RBI single to center from Mike Spiciarich, which drove home Durgala for the game-tying run. Dave Montegari followed with a two-run outfield single, scoring Spiciarich and Winterling. Eric Williams relieved Foeman on the mound, but gave up one more run as Jonas Fester's sacrifice hit scored Ian Christie, who had walked.
Johns Hopkins managed just five hits in the first eight innings, as Mary Washington took a quick 1-0 lead in the first and a 3-0 lead after three. Eric Fitzgerald tripled and scored on a Tom McDermott single for the first run, and two innings later, McDermott hit a triple of his own and then scored on a Lee Rubin sacrifice fly.
The Blue Jays finally got on the board in the top of the fourth, when they scored two runs off three Eagle errors. Eric Nigro doubled to right and scored on an error at the mound before Durgala, who reached on a fielder's choice, scored on the pitcher's second error of the inning. Hopkins trailed by one, 3-2, after four innings.
The Eagles tallied their final run of the game off a Fitzgerald homer in the bottom of the fifth, which was followed by two scoreless innings for both teams. Hopkins put one more run, an unearned score by Christie, on the board in the eighth before breaking open for four runs in the ninth.
Fester finished with two hits and two RBI, Nigro went 2 for 4 with one run scored, while Durgala and Christie both scored two runs. Montegari finished 1 for 3 with two RBI. Fitzgerald led the Eagles with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate, including two runs and two RBI. Three other Eagles chipped in two hits apiece.
Andrew Bail, Ryan Kuhlman, Tim Denning, and Zaccaria shared the pitching duties for Hopkins, and combined for nine hits, 10 strikeouts, and four earned runs. Foeman took the loss for Mary Washington with seven hits, seven strikeouts , and three earned runs.
The Blue Jays return to action this weekend at the Centennial Conference Championship, hosted by Franklin and Marshall. Johns Hopkins faces the winner of Friday's quarterfinal game (Gettysburg at Haverford) on Saturday, May 7, at F&M. The semifinal winner meets F&M on Sunday for a best-of-three championship series.
