BALTIMORE, MD – The No. 3/4 Johns Hopkins baseball team scored nine runs over the first three innings Wednesday afternoon and rolled to a 12-3 win over Lycoming at Babb Field at Stromberg Stadium. The victory improves the Blue Jays to 11-2 on the season.
Lycoming struck first as leadoff hitter Josh Bottger opened the game with a solo home run to give the Warriors an early 1-0 lead. The advantage was short-lived, however, as the Blue Jays responded with three runs in the bottom of the first to take control.
Jacob Harris sparked the inning with a double down the right-field line and later scored when
Alex Shane lined a single into left field to tie the game at 1-1.
Clay Hartje followed with a sacrifice fly to bring home the go-ahead run before
Logan Scully dropped a single into center to plate another and give Hopkins a 3-1 lead.
Starting pitcher
William Jaun settled in from there, retiring seven of the next eight batters he faced. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays' offense broke the game open with a six-run third inning.
With the bases loaded,
Lukas Geer drove in a run on a fielder's choice to make it 4-1. Scully added another with a sacrifice fly before
Shane Keough lined an RBI single through the right side to push the lead to 6-1. Later in the inning,
Aaron Bock put the exclamation point on the rally with a towering three-run home run to left field, extending the Hopkins lead to 9-1.
Lycoming (7-6) answered with two runs in the fourth, knocking Jaun from the game, but reliever
Michael Yousef came on and retired the only batter he faced in the inning to limit the damage. The Blue Jays added another run in the bottom half as Harris stole third and came home on an errant throw to make it 10-3.
Hopkins' bullpen handled the rest. Yousef,
Dylan Zucker and
Gavin Simurdiak combined to retire 12 of the 17 batters they faced to keep Lycoming in check the rest of the way.
The Blue Jays added two more runs in the eighth inning when Harris lined a two-run home run to left field, pushing the lead to 12-3 and sealing Hopkins' 11
th victory of the season.
Hopkins returns to action Sunday, March 15, opening its spring break trip against Endicott at Lake Myrtle Park. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• Yousef (2-0) earned the win with 2.1 scoreless innings in relief, allowing one hit while striking out two.
• Three Blue Jays recorded multi-hit games. Harris led the offense, going 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and a walk.
• With a single in his first at-bat, Shane extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
• Hopkins has hit multiple home runs in eight of its 13 games this season and at least one in 12. Harris and Bock both homered in Wednesday's win.
• The Blue Jays have scored three or more runs in 25 different innings through 13 games.
