Box Score April 27, 2013
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
BALTIMORE, MD - Colin McCarthy totaled four hits with five runs and three RBIs as the No. 3 Johns Hopkins baseball team clinched the Centennial Conference regular season crown with victories by counts of 15-2 and 6-5 over Muhlenberg Saturday.
Needing just one victory to assure itself home field advantage in the conference tournament, Hopkins (33-5, 15-3 CC) put all doubt to rest with an emphatic victory in game one. The Blue Jays will host the conference tournament for the fourth consecutive season.
The Hopkins bats were hot from the outset in game one as Kyle Neverman led things off with a ground rule double to left field. McCarthy promptly singled down the left field line to put the Jays ahead, 1-0. Chris Wilhelm then crushed his eighth homer of the year over the left field fence to score McCarthy and Jeff Lynch.
The Blue Jays tacked on a fifth run in the second as Adam Weiner singled up the middle and eventually made his way to third. Weiner then scored after the Mules' shortstop committed an error on a Ryan Zakszeski groundout.
Consecutive walks by Weiner, Neverman and McCarthy led to another big inning for the Blue Jays, who opened the score to 8-0 in the fourth. Zakszeski scored Weiner on a sacrifice fly, before Neverman advanced home on a Muhlenberg error. Wilhelm knocked in the third run with a single to left field.
The Jays put the nail in the coffin by plating four more runs in the fifth to open an insurmountable 12-0 advantage. McCarthy and Zakszeski did the damage for Hopkins with a pair of two-run hits.
Muhlenberg scored two runs in the sixth, while Hopkins added three more runs on a Raul Shah bases loaded walk and a two RBI single up the middle by JR Charles.
McCarthy, Zakszeski and Wilhelm combined for 10 RBIs in the contest, while pitcher Tyler Goldstein allowed two runs and struck out seven in six innings of work.
---Game Two---
Jonathan Hettleman blooped a walk-off single down the right field line to lift Hopkins to a 6-5 victory against Muhlenberg in game two of the double-header.
After squandering a five-run lead in the eighth and ninth innings, Pete Siciliano led off the bottom of the tenth for the Jays and got hit by a pitch. Senior Matt Ricci came on to run for Siciliano, and advanced to second and third after a sacrifice bunt and wild pitch. Hettleman then scored Ricci with the bloop single for the victory.
The Blue Jays appeared well on their way to victory after jumping out to a 3-0 lead through the first three innings. The home side thought they had scored on a McCarthy double to left, but Christopher Casey was called out at third for failing to touch the bag. McCarthy worked his way to third, and then scored on a passed ball.
Hopkins increased its lead to 3-0 in the third inning as McCarthy led off the inning with a single up the middle. Mike Kanen scored McCarthy from second with a double, before Siciliano scored Kanen for his first collegiate RBI.
After scoring another run in the sixth, the Blue Jays opened their advantage to 5-0 when Neverman hit his fourth home run of the year to left field.
Muhlenberg was held to just two runs in 16 innings before its bats finally awoke in the eighth and ninth innings to score five runs and force extra innings.
Sophomore Thomas Solomon pitched five strong innings in his first collegiate start, allowing only three hits and no earned runs. Hettleman was 3-for-4 in the game.
Hopkins returns to action Monday as it takes on No. 4 Salisbury at the JHU Baseball Diamond in a premier matchup featuring two of the top-five teams in the nation.
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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