BEVERLY, MA – The Johns Hopkins baseball team saw its 2024 campaign come to a close at the hands of top-ranked Endicott Saturday afternoon, dropping Game 2 of NCAA Tournament Super Regional Round 5-2 to the Gulls. The Blue Jays finish their season with a record of 35-11, with the win advancing Endicott to its second consecutive College World Series where they will be the favorite to win the program's first National Championship.
Like Game 1 it was Hopkins striking first in Saturday's rematch, using
Caleb Cyr's team-best 20
th home run of the season to spark a two-run inning to go in front early. Leading off the second inning, the senior swung and missed on the first pitch he saw, but adjusted quickly and launched the second offering over the right center fence to open the afternoon's scoring.
The Blue Jays' next two batters went down before
Jimmy Stevens started a two-out rally with a hard-hit single to third base.
Jake Siani followed up the senior's base knock with a single of his own to center field, with
Dylan Whitney sending a pitch back where it came from on the next at bat to score Stevens and make it a 2-0 game.
After another strong third inning on the mound from
Quinn Rovner, Endicott would score five unanswered in the fourth and fifth on a pair of home runs by Brendan O'Neil and Danny MacDougall to take a 5-2 lead they would never lose.
Unable to capitalize with two on in the sixth or a runner on third in the eighth, the Blue Jays made one final push in the top of the ninth before falling just short. Stevens stayed hot at the plate with a single through the left side to lead things off, with a Siani bunt putting two one with no one out. It looked like Hopkins would score its first run of the inning on the ensuing at bat when Whitney smoked one toward second base, but a leaping grab by the Gulls' Dylan Pacheco kept the Blue Jays off the board.
Alex Shane battled to draw a walk and load the bases, but a strikeout a pop out ended the game and another impressive season for Hopkins in the Super Regional.
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• Minus the fifth inning in which he allowed three runs on four hits, Rovner played well in his second NCAA Tournament start, allowing five runs on seven hits in 4.1 innings.
William Boneno,
Thomas Cancian and
Tyler Sugrim combined for 3.2 shutout innings out of the pen.
• Cyr's home run was his 20
th of the season, giving him the second most in a single season in program history. The senior has now hit 37 homers in the last two seasons.
• Stevens and Siani impressed at the bottom of the batting order for the Blue Jays, sharing the team-lead with two hits apiece. Stevens went 2-2 with a walk while Siani went 2-4 in his second straight start.
