BALTIMORE, MD – The top-ranked and top-seeded Johns Hopkins baseball team opened the 2025 Centennial Conference Tournament with a decisive 18-8 victory over visiting McDaniel at Babb Field at Stromberg Stadium Thursday afternoon. The win, Hopkins' 19
th straight, improves the Blue Jays' record to 37-3 and moves Hopkins into a winner's bracket game against Swarthmore, which topped Haverford, 8-5, in Thursday's other game.
The weekend portion of the tournament will take place entirely at Johns Hopkins. McDaniel and Haverford will meet in an elimination game at 10 am on Saturday, May 3 with the Johns Hopkins and Swarthmore to follow with a winner's bracket game. The Johns Hopkins-Swarthmore game will not start before 1:30 pm. The winner of the McDaniel-Haverford game will then meet the loser of the Hopkins-Swarthmore game in an elimination game later Saturday afternoon.
Johns Hopkins got a five-inning performance on the mound from starting pitcher
Kieren Collins, who picked up the win to improve to 7-1 on the year. The victory moved Collins into a tie for first place on Johns Hopkins' career pitching victories list (29).
The Blue Jays wasted little time jumping on McDaniel starter
Ryan Kelly as they plated a pair of runs on two hits to grab a quick 2-0 lead in the first. A two-run
Jimmy Stevens single chased home
Dylan Whitney, who had opened the game with a single to center, and
Shawn Steuerer, who had reached on a fielder's choice.
As quickly as the Blue Jays built a two-run lead, they found themselves in a two-run hole as the Green Terror answered Hopkins' two-spot in the bottom of the first with a four-run second. The Terror touched Blue Jay starter
Kieren Collins for four hits with a three-run
Patrick Kelly home run to left center turning a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead.
The early game of back-and-forth continued in the bottom of the second as the Blue Jays touched McDaniel reliever
Preston Yost for four runs on two hits, all of which came after Yost set down the first two Hopkins batters of the inning. Whitney and
Alex Shane both worked two-out walks and Steuerer followed with a run-scoring double to left center to plate Whitney. Graduate student
Caleb Cyr followed Steuerer's double with a towering home run to left to give the Jays a 6-4 lead.
The Blue Jays tacked on a run in the bottom of the third on a
Jacob Harris solo home run and then plated seven more an inning later when Harris roped a two-run double to left center that was followed by a three-run
Clay Hartje home run that snuck around the pole in right field to extend the lead to 11-4. After
Jake Siani walked to chase Yost, Whiteney greeted reliever
Austin Sealing with a two-run home run and Shane followed with a solo shot of his own that capped the seven-run inning and extended the lead to 14-4.
While the Blue Jays offense was busy scoring in each of the first four innings, Collins settled in after the four-run second inning for the Green Terror and worked three straight consecutive scoreless innings before exiting after five. He didn't allow a hit over his final three innings of work and surrendered just two walks over that time.
The Blue Jays pushed the 14-4 lead to 18-4 with a four-spot in the bottom of the fifth. A bases-loaded Siani walk and a Whitney ground out pushed across the first two of those runs and Shane added a two-run single of his own to polish off the four-run Johns Hopkins fifth.
Five different Blue Jays registered multi-hit games with Harris leading the way with a 4-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBIs. The four hits ties a career-high for Harris, who previously collected four in a win at Muhlenberg in 2024.
Whitney, Shane, Cyr and Hartje all collected three runs batted in and among the eight Blue Jays who scored at least twice, it was Whitney and Harris leading the way with three apiece.
McDaniel got the four runs on four hits in the second inning, but then managed just one hit over the next four innings as the Blue Jay lead swelled to 14. Patrick Kelly did most of the damage for the Green Terror as he added a solo home run in the seventh that polished off a two-hit, four-RBI day for the sophomore catcher.
McDaniel trailed 18-5 entering the ninth inning before pushing across three runs to account for the 18-8 final score.
Notes
• Collins' win moved him into a tie with
Jeff Fang (1989-92) and
Scott Orlovsky (1995-98) for first place on Johns Hopkins' career victories list. He is now 29-5 in his career.
• Steuerer's second-inning double was the program-record 54
th of his career. He is now Johns Hopkins' career leader in hits, doubles, home runs, runs scored, RBIs and total bases.
• Johns Hopkins has scored at least 12 runs in five consecutive Centennial Conference Tournament games dating back to the 2023 title game against Dickinson.
• JHU's 19-game winning streak is the fifth longest in program history.
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