• Score: Johns Hopkins-11, Trinity (TX)-2
• Records: JHU (12-3) • TU (28-8)
• Pitching Decision: W:  Schaefer (5-2) • L:  Thomas (1-3)
• The Short Story: Sophomore Peter Schaefer scattered three hits and struck out nine over seven innings to lead the sixth-seeded Johns Hopkins baseball team to an 11-2 win over top-seeded and seventh-ranked Trinity (TX) in the opening game of the NCAA St. Paul Regional Tournament at Northwester-St. Paul Friday afternoon.

How it Happened
• The Blue Jays got to Trinity starter Matthew Thomas in the top of the first with two runs on two hits.  A one-out RBI double by AJ King plated Matt Ritchie and King later raced home on the front-end of a delayed double-steal to account for the second run of the inning.
• Blue Jay starter Peter Schaefer worked out of a two-on, one-out situation in the bottom of the first with a pair of strikeouts as the Tigers threatened to answer quickly.
• Trinity got two men on in the bottom of the third, but King threw out a pair of runners attempting to steal second to help maintain the two-run lead.
• Hopkins pushed across a run in the fourth on an RBI-double by Austin Sacks to push the lead to 3-0 and that lead held until the bottom of the sixth, when the Blue Jays exploded for five to go up 8-0.
• Three of the first four Blue Jays reached in the top of the sixth (HBP-BB-BB) and David Harding ripped a single up the middle to chase home Jared deFaria.  Two batters later – and after a Trinity pitching change - graduate student Dai Dai Otaka took one deep to left with the bases loaded to give Hopkins the 8-0 lead.
• Trinity scratched out a run off Schaefer in the bottom of the sixth as they used a walk, hit-by-pitch, error and bases-loaded walk to get on the board.
• The Blue Jays answered in the top of the seventh with two more runs as Mark Lopez hammered one off the wall in left-center to plate Harding and James Ingram.
• The teams traded solo home runs in the bottom of the eighth and top of the ninth as Ezra Gore went deep for Trinity before Ingram answered in the top of the ninth to close out the scoring.
 
Inside the Box Score
• Schaefer worked seven innings and allowed three hits – all to Rafe Chaumette – with the lone run against him an unearned run in the sixth.  He struck out nine and allowed three walks in the win.
• Schaefer now has 36 strikeouts in his last three games (24 IP) and 70 on the year (49 IP).  He is the 15^th player in school history to record 70 or more strikeouts in a season (it's been done a total of 22 times); he also lowered his ERA to 1.65 on the year.
• King led a 14-hit attack for the Blue Jays as he was 4-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI.  The four hits match his career high.
• Five Blue Jays had multi-hit games as King was joined by Otaka, Ingram, Lopez and Matt Ritchie, who all collected two hits on the day.
• Seven of JHU's 14 hits on the day went for extra-bases as the Blue Jays counted five doubles and two home runs among their 14 hits.
• Trinity entered the game ranked 11^th in the nation in scoring offense at 9.9 runs per game and had scored nine or more runs in nine of their last 10 games entering today's game.
 
NCAA Regional Notes
• JHU won its third consecutive regional opener and improved to 44-41 all-time in NCAA Regional play.
• The 11 runs mark the 23^rd time JHU has scored 10+ runs in an NCAA Regional Tournament game – the Jays have now done it five times in their last eight regional games.
• The five doubles were one shy of JHU's regional record (6 vs. Washington & Jefferson in 2009).  This is the fifth time JHU has had five or more doubles in a regional game.
 
Up Next
• Johns Hopkins will next play on Saturday, May 29 at 2:30 pm against the loser of tonight's game between Misericordia and Northwestern-St. Paul.
 
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