April 24, 2012

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - The Johns Hopkins baseball team took a short break from a tight conference race to host non-conference opponent, Mary Washington Tuesday afternoon at the JHU Baseball Diamond. The Blue Jays cruised to a 8-4 victory behind stellar pitching of senior Sam Eagleson and timely hitting from junior Jeff Lynch.

The Blue Jays (23-10-2) struck first in the bottom of the second inning to take a 1-0 lead on an RBI groundout from senior Mike Musary. With the base paths full of Blue Jays, Musary hit a sharp ground ball to third base that allowed junior Ryan Zakszeski to come home for the first run of the game. The Blue Jays are now 18-6-1 when scoring the first run of the game.

Eagleson faced the minimum through the first three frames before giving up a lead off single in the top of the fourth. After Eagleson got a ground out, he finished off the frame with two strikeouts to leave a runner stranded at second and keep the Eagles off the board and preserve the 1-0 lead.

The Eagles (11-19-1) did get two back in the top of the fifth on three hits to take a 2-1 lead. After an RBI single from Jonathan Haught, Lynch gunned down Santino Rosanova at third as he was trying to take an extra base for the second out of the frame. Haught advanced to second on the play and came around to score on ground ball that barely stayed fair down the left field line. Eagleson got himself out of the inning with a comebacker to the mound off the bat of Jake Rudman.

Hopkins answered with three runs in the home half of the inning to retake the lead, one that they would not surrender. With two outs and the bases empty, junior Mike Kanen drew a walk before the fifth inning hit parade began. Senior Aaron Borenstein had a hard hit single to left before Lynch ripped a ball to right center for a stand up double that brought home Kanen and Borenstein. Zakszeski followed suit and sent a ball to center field for his third hit of the game that plated Lynch. Hopkins led 4-2 after five innings.

Eagleson found himself in the toughest jam of the game with the bases loaded and just one out in the top of the sixth, but the right-hander got Kevin Yarnell to swing at the first pitch and send a shallow fly ball to Musary in center field, not nearly deep enough to score the runner at third. Eagleson got his ended with a deep fly ball to sophomore Mike Denlinger in right field to come away unharmed with the Blue Jays still leading 4-2.

After a quiet bottom of the sixth, the Eagles got a run back on an RBI double from Rudman in the top of the seventh. Senior Blake Platt came out in relief of Eagleson and got two outs sandwiched around a walk to leave two runners stranded and keep the Blue Jays on top.

Hopkins answered with a run in the bottom of the seventh to take a 5-3 lead. Junior Kyle Neverman welcomed the new Eagles' pitcher, Torey Mancari with a line drive single to left field on the first pitch he saw before Neverman took second and third on two wild pitches. Lynch singled through the left side with two outs to allow Neverman to easily score and push the lead to 5-3.

The Blue Jays capped off their scoring in the bottom of the eighth with three runs on three hits. Denlinger opened the frame with a walk before taking second on Mancari's third wild pitch of the game. Musary hit a fly ball down the right field line that landed just inside fair territory for a double that brought home Denlinger. Junior Adam Weiner doubled to straightaway center for his first double of the season to bring around Musary and give Hopkins a 7-3 lead. Weiner moved to third on a wild pitch and came around to score a deep sacrifice fly to right from Neverman to give the Blue Jays an 8-3 lead.

Connor Finnerty opened the top of the ninth with a single to left and came around to score the final run of the game on a two-out double from Ben Sisk to cap off the Eagles' scoring. Senior closer Aaron Schwartz got Brent Steffey to pop up to Weiner at second to put the game in the books for the Blue Jays.

Lynch paced the Blue Jays at the plate with three hits, including a double and three RBI while Zakszeski went 3-for-4 with an RBI and run scored.

Eagleson improved to 4-3 on the season with his solid performance on the mound. Eagleson went 6.1, giving up three runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out five. Platt got Eagleson out of a jam in the seventh with a strikeout and Schwartz earned his seventh save of the season. Schwartz came out in the eighth and gave up just one run on three hits with a strike out.

The Blue Jays will return to the diamond when they face Centennial Conference foe Haverford on Saturday at the JHU Baseball Diamond in a crucial CC double header. The Blue Jays will honor their 14 seniors prior to the first pitch of the first game of the double header. The first pitch is set for 12:30 pm.