March 12, 2012

Box Score

WASHINGTON, DC - The Johns Hopkins baseball team's late inning rally fell just short as the Blue Jays fell to Catholic, 7-6, in a rematch of the 2011 Mid Atlantic Regional Tournament game.

The Blue Jays (2-3-2) jumped out to an early lead as junior Ryan Zakszeski belted an 0-1 pitch deep over the left field fence to score sophomore Richie Carbone in the top of the second. Carbone led off the inning with a single to left and came around to score on Zakszeski's round-tripper to give Hopkins a 2-0 lead.

The Cardinals (10-3) cut the lead in half in the bottom of the second when Colin McCarthy came around to score on a two-out single after reaching first on a Blue Jay error and advancing to second on a wild pitch.

Hopkins quickly answered and plated two more runs in the top of the third. The Blue Jays strung together three-straight singles to plate their first run of the inning. Junior Kyle Neverman led off the frame sending a ball up the middle before classmate Mike Kanen singled through the left side. Senior Aaron Borenstein sent the ball into left center to plate Neverman and give Hopkins a 3-1 lead. Junior Jeff Lynch reached on a fielder's choice to put runners on the corners for Carbone who singled through the right side to bring around Kanen. The Blue Jays led 4-1 after two and a half innings.

CUA got the two runs back and more in the bottom of the third to take a 6-4 lead. The Cardinals sent eight batters to the plate and five of them came around to score on six hits, all but one of the hits being a single. Center fielder senior Mike Musary threw out Cardinal Dan Sullivan as he was trying to stretch a double into a triple to end the inning. The Cardinals plated their final run of the game in the bottom of the fourth when designated hitter Dave Grear scored on a sacrifice fly from Tim Mierzwa.

Neverman led off the top of the fifth drawing a five-pitch walk and came around to score on an RBI-single to centerfield to cut the CUA lead to 7-5. The Blue Jays added their final run of the game in the top of the eight. Senior Scott Barrett reached on a fielder's choice and sophomore Kenny Pierson came out to run for Barrett before Neverman reached on an error by the second baseman. After the Cardinals fourth pitching change, Kanen singled to centerfield to score Pierson and pull the Jays to within one, 7-6. The Cardinals made one last pitching change and Thomas Travaglia was able to survive a scoring threat from the Blue Jays with two on in the top of the ninth to hold on for a 7-6 win for CUA.

Kanen led at the plate for Hopkins, going 3-for-5 while driving in a run and scoring once. Borenstein drove in two runs while going 2-for-4 at the plate and Zakszeski tallied two RBIs on his two hits and scored one run.

Sophomore Tyler Goldstein took the loss for the Blue Jays on the mound after throwing 3.2 innings and giving up seven runs, six earned, on eight hits and just one walk while striking out three. Robin Mowatt earned the win for the Cardinals after throwing 4.2 innings, giving up five runs on nine hits and one walk while striking out one. Travaglia earned the save for CUA.

The Blue Jays return to action when they travel to Ashland, VA to face Randolph-Macon on Tuesday, March 13 for their last game before heading to Arizona for their annual spring break trip. First pitch is scheduled for 3 pm.