AUBURNDALE, FL – The Johns Hopkins baseball team played its third game in as many days against Bethel Saturday afternoon, falling behind early en route to an 18-8 loss.
In a high-scoring opening inning, it was the Royals (7-6) jumping out to a 5-0 lead before the Blue Jays cut right back into the deficit with four of the own in the bottom half of the inning.
Isaiah Winikur and
Alex Shane hit a pair of singles to lead off the frame, loading the bases after
Matthew Cooper drew a walk. With one out,
Caleb Cyr brought the game within one with one swing of his bat, cranking the ball over the fence for his first grand slam of the season and second home run in three games. Hopkins threatened to tack on more runs, loading the bases again with two outs, but a pop up in foul territory ended the inning.
Bethel's bats stayed hot in the second, rattling off four more runs to go back up five at 9-4. The Blue Jays went yard once again in the bottom of the inning, this time off the bat of
Alex Shane for his first of the season — but only got one across home plate to enter the third down 9-5.
Hopkins added one run in the third on an RBI double from Winikur and two in the fourth on RBIs from
Damian Brown and
Dylan Whitney to cut the lead back to one, but that is as close as the Jays would get the rest of the day, with the Royals scoring nine unanswered runs in the next five innings to hand Hopkins the 18-8 loss.
The Blue Jays get a day off before returning to the field Monday, March 18 to take on second-ranked Endicott, with first pitch set for 10 a.m.
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• Cyr was a force at the plate in the loss, going 3-3 with two runs and four RBIs. The senior's three hits tie a career-high, with his second homer of the season on his first at-bat giving him the team-lead in RBIs with 11 — the only Blue Jay in double figures thus far.
• Winikur, Shane and Brown also tallied multi-hit days with two apiece. Winikur extended his hit streak to nine games, Shane hit his first homer of the season and Brown recorded two hits in back-to-back games for the first time in his career. With his efforts today, the sophomore is batting an other-worldly .615 (8-13).
• Despite struggling at points throughout the game, Hopkins' infield turned a season-best three double plays, including two that ended their respective innings.
