Box Score April 15, 2012
Box Score
RUTGERS, NJ - Junior Chris Wilhelm blasted a towering home run over the left center fence in the top of the 10th inning to lift the Johns Hopkins baseball team to a 9-7 win over non-conference opponent, Rutgers-Newark, Sunday afternoon.
Senior Joe Hemmes led off the 10th inning with a single through the right side and sophomore Ben Eckroth came out to pinch run. Eckroth advanced to second on a failed pickoff attempt by the Scarlet Raiders' pitcher before junior Chris Vonderschmidt singled through the right side to put runners on the corners. With the score tied knotted at six, Wilhelm took a 1-1 pitch deep over the left field fence to drive home Eckroth and Vonderschmidt and give the visiting Jays a 9-6 lead going into the bottom of the 10th inning.
The Scarlet Raiders got one back in the bottom of the frame with a sacrifice fly but with the tying run at the plate, senior reliever Aaron Schwartz got Chris Ballester to ground out to junior Jeff Lynch at first and Schwartz recorded the last out to earn his fourth win of the season.
The Blue Jays (20-9-2) tied the game at six in the top of the eighth with two runs on a hit and two walks. Senior Aaron Borenstein led off the frame with a double to left center and eventually came around to score when Hemmes drew a walk with the bases loaded. Wilhelm collected his first RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly to right that brought home Lynch who was hit by a pitch earlier in the inning.
With two outs and a runner on second in the bottom of the eighth, Vonderschmidt chases down a line drive to left center to make a diving catch and squash any scoring chance by the Scarlet Raiders and keep the game tied at six each. Schwartz pitched a scoreless ninth and picked off a runner in the frame to set up the big 10th for Wilhelm.
Rutgers-Newark (14-15) stuck first with a run in the bottom of the first two innings before Hopkins got on the board in the fourth. The Blue Jays strung together three-straight two-out doubles off the bats of Borenstein, Lynch, and sophomore Mike Denlinger to plate three runs in the inning and take a 3-2 lead.
The Scarlet Raiders took the lead back in the home half of the fourth with two runs on two hits and a Blue Jay error and extended their lead to 6-3 with two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. The Blue Jays were held quiet through the fifth and sixth innings and could not capitalize on a bases-loaded situation with no outs in the sixth. Hopkins got on back in the top of the seventh when Wilhelm doubled down the left field line and came around to score on a single from junior Kyle Neverman to cut the lead to 6-4 in the seventh before tying the game in the eighth.
Wilhelm paced the Blue Jays at the plate with two hits while driving in four runs and scoring twice. Borenstein went 3-for-5 at the dish with an RBI and a run scored. Schwartz picked up the win for the Jays after pitching the ninth and tenth innings while Casey Buckley took the loss for RNU, giving up the home run to Wilhelm in the 10th.
The Blue Jays return to action when they travel to Chestertown, MD for a key Centennial Conference match up with Washington College on April 17. The first pitch is scheduled for 3:30 pm.
