Box Score April 8, 2014
Box Score
Note: Due to construction on the new Johns Hopkins baseball diamond, Hopkins was denoted as the "home" team as the game was originally scheduled to be played in Baltimore.
WESTMINSTER, MD - Senior Jonathan Hettleman notched his only hit of the afternoon in the clutch, ripping a ball into left field in the bottom of the 12th to give Hopkins a 4-3 walk off victory over McDaniel. It was the second RBI of the game for the Baltimore, MD native in a tightly contested Centennial Conference matchup that took extra innings to decide a winner. Junior Justin Drechsel earned his first win of the season pitching two scoreless innings in the 11th and 12th to help Hopkins move to 14-6 (2-4 CC). McDaniel drops to 9-14 (3-4 CC) with the loss.
The Blue Jays played from behind for most of the afternoon, after a two-run first inning put the Green Terror ahead. Senior Marshall Betts and sophomore Cameron Bahr both knocked in early RBIs for McDaniel, and Hopkins trailed 2-0 going up to the plate for the first time.
After the first, sophomore RHP Colin Friedman settled in for the Blue Jays allowing only one run and four hits for the rest of the game. However, the Blue Jay bats could not offer their starter any run support until junior Craig Hoelzer led off the seventh inning. The Roanoke, VA native notched one of his four singles on the day, and another single from freshman Conor Reynolds advanced Hoelzer to second. With one out, sophomore Raul Shah slapped a single through the left side to cut the deficit to 3-1, before a strikeout and groundout got the Green Terror out of the inning.
With Hopkins down to its last six outs trailing 3-1, junior Colin McCarthy came to the plate to lead off the eighth inning. The Westport, CT native singled through the left side, and a groundout from junior Mike Denlinger advanced him over to second. After senior Richie Carbone walked, Hoelzer came through again for the Jays with an RBI single to cut the lead to 3-2. Hettleman notched an RBI with a sacrifice in his ensuing at bat, to pit the squads at three. A well hit line drive from Reynolds with two outs looked good off the bat, but the ball went right to the third baseman's glove to bail the Green Terror out.
Hopkins had a couple opportunities to seal the win before the 12th, but stranded runners in the ninth and the 11th innings to delay any walk off heroics. It wasn't until Denlinger notched a leadoff single in the bottom of the 12th that Hopkins swung the momentum in its favor. After Lin pinch ran, Carbone was hit by a pitch to set up a sacrifice bunt from Hoelzer to advance the runners. Hettleman finally broke the tie, getting his 13th RBI of the year in walk off fashion to give the Blue Jays the 4-3 triumph.
Hopkins will be back in action tomorrow in a nonconference road contest versus Catholic.
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