April 23, 2013
Box Score
BALTIMORE, MD -- The Washington College baseball team scored three runs in the third inning on a pair of fielding errors that helped push it to a 7-3 victory over No. 3 Johns Hopkins Tuesday afternoon at the JHU Baseball Diamond. It is the first time the Blue Jays have lost back-to-back games in 2013.
With runners on first and third and zero outs, Washington College's (14-21, 5-10 CC) Bryan Baquer slashed a single to right field. The hit easily scored the runner from third base, but right fielder Mike Denlinger overran the ball. The runners advanced on Denlinger's mistake, and then both scored after an errant relay throw that landed in the Shoremen dugout. Baquer was originally stopped at third base on the play, but was awarded home plate after a brief meeting by the umpires to give WAC a 4-1 lead.
The third inning blunder was slightly reminiscent of the start of the game, as Baquer reached base on an infield single and advanced to second on a throwing error by Kyle Neverman. Dennis Thomas then singled to center field to give the Shoremen an early 1-0 advantage.
Neverman quickly redeemed himself in the bottom half of the first, returning to the leadoff spot for the first time in a number of games. The shortstop belted pitcher Kyle Aldrich's first pitch of the game over the left field fence to square the game, 1-1.
After the disastrous third inning, Hopkins (30-5, 12-3 CC) responded by cutting its deficit to 4-3 in the bottom of the third. Neverman reached base on an error and McCarthy followed with a single to right center. Jeff Lynch then crushed an RBI double that pelted the bottom of the fence in right center field. The second run was scored when Mike Denlinger chopped a tough single to shortstop.
While Washington College tacked on runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings, the Blue Jays could do little offensively to match their opponent. Richie Carbone was robbed of a few hard hit balls, including a home run bid in the fourth that barely sailed foul, as Hopkins tallied just three hits over the course of the final six innings.
The senior Aldrich was impressive on the mound for WAC, going the distance and allowing just one earned run. Freshman Colin Friedman fell on hard luck due to the defensive errors by Hopkins, and gave up two earned runs in 3.2 innings of work.
The Blue Jays have two days to collect themselves before they travel to Washington College to complete the home-and-home series on Friday at 3:30 pm. Hopkins' stranglehold on the Centennial Conference has been reduced to just one game over Gettysburg.
For more information on the Johns Hopkins Baseball Capital Project, contact Blue Jays Unlimited at bju@jhu.edu or click here.
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