COLLEGEVILLE, PA – The No. 2-ranked Johns Hopkins baseball team squared off against Ursinus (20-20, 5-13) Sunday afternoon in the final regular season games, sweeping the Bears 7-5 in the morning game and 6-2 in the nightcap. The Blue Jays end the regular season 17-1 in conference play and are the top seed heading into the Centennial Conference Tournament.
Game 1
Hopkins (36-3, 17-1) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning with a sacrifice fly from
Jimmy Stevens and an RBI single by
Damian Brown. Ursinus cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom half, but the Blue Jays extended their advantage to 4-1 in the fifth on RBI singles from
Alex Shane and
Dillon Souvignier.
The Bears responded with two runs in the fifth, making it 4-3, but
Ryan Anderson came in for a key strikeout to keep the lead intact. In the seventh, Hopkins added three more runs, highlighted by a two-RBI double from Stevens and a sacrifice fly by
Shawn Steuerer to push the lead to 7-3.
Ursinus made a late push, scoring twice in the seventh to cut the deficit to 7-5. With two on and the winning run at the plate,
Grant Meert closed it out in the ninth, earning his fourth save with two shutout innings, capped by a game-saving catch by Shane in right field.
Inside the Box Score
•
Dylan Whitney paced the Blue Jay offense, going 3-for-5 with a double, triple and two runs scored.
Jimmy Stevens drove in a game-high 3 RBIs.
• Six Blue Jays recorded multi-hit games: Whitney, Stevens,
Alex Shane,
Caleb Cyr,
Dillon Souvignier and
Damian Brown.
• Souvignier and Shane extended their hitting streaks to 12 games, while Whitney is on a seven-game streak. Souvignier has recorded a hit in 19 of his last 20 games, while Shane has done so in 14 of his last 15.
•
Ryan Anderson improved to 4-1 on the season, tossing 1.1 innings with two strikeouts, retiring 4-of-5 batters faced.
Grant Meert earned his fourth save, throwing 2.1 scoreless innings, striking out three while allowing just one hit and two walks.
Game 2
The Blue Jays took a 2-0 lead in the second inning, with
Dylan Whitney driving in the first run on a line out, and
Clay Hartje scoring on a failed pickoff attempt.
Jimmy Stevens extended the lead to 4-0 with a two-run homer in the third. Ursinus answered with a run in the bottom of the third on a double, cutting the lead to 4-1.
Hopkins responded in the fifth when
Dillon Souvignier singled to drive in
Alex Shane, making it 5-1. Ursinus scored again in the sixth on a double, narrowing the gap to 5-2.
Shawn Steuerer then singled in the eighth to extend the lead to 6-2.
On the mound,
Quinn Rovner earned the win, improving to 6-0 on the season. He threw 6.0 innings, striking out four while allowing just two runs – one earned – on seven hits with one walk.
Charles Monterrosa recorded his first save of the season, tossing 3.0 scoreless innings and striking out four.
Inside the Box Score
•
Jimmy Stevens led the Blue Jay offense, going 2-for-3 with a double, two-run homer and a pair of walks.
Dillon Souvignier also recorded a multi-hit game.
• Souvignier and
Alex Shane extend their hitting streaks to 13 games. Souvignier has recorded a hit in 20 of his last 21 games, while Shane has done so in 15 of his last 16. Whitney extended his hitting streak to eight.
The Blue Jays are back in action Thursday, May 1 at Babb Field, in the first game of the Centennial Conference Tournament.
