WINTER HAVEN, FL – The No. 2-ranked Johns Hopkins baseball team faced Saint John's University (MN) (8-5) in the eighth game of their spring break, Friday morning, defeating the Johnnies 13-1. The Blue Jay offense exploded in the third inning, capped by a
Jacob Harris grand slam, giving the Jays the run-rule victory.
Clay Hartje gave Hopkins (15-2) an early two-run lead on a no-doubt-about-it home run, scoring
Jimmy Stevens in the second inning. Before the inning was over, the Blue Jays plated the third run of the inning via a
Dylan Whitney single up the middle, allowing
Lukas Geer to touch home.
The Blue Jay offense exploded in the third inning, loading the bases for Harris. On the first pitch he saw, Harris clubbed a grand slam to the deepest part of the ballpark, extending the Jays lead to seven. Hopkins continued to bat around, with
Alex Shane plating another two runs on a double to center field. To put the Blue Jays over the 10-run hump,
Shawn Steuerer drove a ball to deep center field – his 50
th career home run – scoring another two runs, allowing the Jays to put up an eight in the third inning.
The Johnnies showed fight, returning in the bottom half of the third plating a run of their own, however that wasn't enough to cut the lead to under 10, allowing Hopkins to invoke the run rule after seven, securing the victory.
Quinn Rovner was stellar in his fifth start of the season, improving to 4-0. The graduate student tossed five innings, allowing four hits and an earned run, also recording a season-high seven strikeouts in the victory over the Johnnies.
The Blue Jays are back in action Saturday, March 22 in the final game of the RussMatt Invitational in Florida, taking on Salem State University with first pitch scheduled for 9 AM.
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• With back-to-back multi-hit games, Geer has amassed a four-game hit streak over the break
• Steuerer recorded his 50
th career home run – a Johns Hopkins record – with a two-run bomb in the third inning
• 10 different Blue Jays recorded a hit in the 12-run victory over Saint John's (MN), with Shane, Steuerer, Geer and
Jake Siani recording a multi-hit game.