ALLENTOWN, PA – The No. 3/3 Johns Hopkins baseball team completed a weekend sweep of Muhlenberg with a doubleheader sweep Saturday at Bicentennial Park. The Blue Jays powered past the Mules, 14-3, in the opener before rallying for a 15-10 win in the nightcap to improve to 23-4 overall and 6-0 in conference play.
Game 1
Muhlenberg struck first in the opening frame as Marius Haughton launched a two-run home run to give the Mules an early 2-0 lead. That would be all the offense they could muster, however, as
Charles Monterrosa settled in to keep the deficit there.
The Blue Jays were held quiet through the first two innings before breaking through in the third.
Hamilton Adams drew a leadoff walk and came around to score on a
Luke Baker single to cut the deficit to 2-1. Two batters later,
Alex Shane gave Hopkins the lead with a two-run opposite-field home run, making it 3-2.
With both pitchers cruising into the sixth, Hopkins extended its lead.
Lukas Geer crushed a two-run homer to left-center to make it 5-2, and Adams followed with an RBI single to push the advantage to 6-2.
The Blue Jays continued to add on late, scoring once in both the seventh and eighth innings. Geer drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, and Adams notched his second RBI single of the game to make it 8-2.
Hopkins then broke the game open in the ninth, erupting for six runs. Geer drew a bases-loaded walk,
Jacob Harris crushed a grand slam—his second in as many days—and
Damian Brown capped the scoring with a solo home run to seal the 14-3 victory.
Monterrosa (1-0) earned the win, allowing two runs on six hits over 6.0 innings while striking out four. After surrendering the first-inning homer, he tossed five scoreless frames.
Cole Jefferson picked up his first save, allowing one run over the final 3.0 innings with three strikeouts.
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
•
Charles Monterrosa earned the win (6.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 K), while
Cole Jefferson recorded the save (3.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 K).
• Four Blue Jays recorded multi-hit games, led by
Jacob Harris, who went 3-for-5 with four RBIs, three runs and a grand slam.
Lukas Geer also tallied four RBIs, two runs, three walks and a two-run home run.
• Jaun extended his hitting streak to nine games and has recorded at least three hits in four of those contests.
•
Luke Baker has reached base safely in 21 consecutive games and recorded a hit in 13 of the last 14 games.
• The Blue Jays have scored three or more runs in 47 different innings through 26 games.
• Hopkins has hit multiple home runs in 15 of its 26 games this season and at least one in 21.
Game 2
Hopkins wasted no time getting on the board in game two, as Geer ripped an RBI double off the left-field wall in the first inning to give the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead. Muhlenberg answered in the bottom half with an RBI groundout to even the score at 1-1.
Brown quickly put Hopkins back on top with a leadoff home run in the second inning. The Blue Jays added another run in the fourth on an infield single by Baker to make it 3-1, but the Mules responded with a run of their own in the bottom half to cut the deficit to 3-2.
Muhlenberg seized control in the fifth, scoring five runs with the bases loaded to take a 7-3 lead.
The Blue Jays responded immediately. In the sixth,
Clay Hartje doubled home a run to make it 7-4. With the bases loaded later in the inning,
William Jaun drove in two with a single to center and a wild pitch brought home another to tie the game at 7-7. Geer then delivered again, lining an RBI double to left to give Hopkins an 8-7 lead.
William Hancock came up big in the bottom of the sixth, stranding the bases loaded to preserve the slim advantage.
Hopkins broke the game open in the eighth with a seven-run outburst. Shane highlighted the inning with a two-run home run to center, while Hartje added a two-run double. The Blue Jays also capitalized on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch and walk, along with another run-scoring play by Jaun, to extend the lead to 15-7.
Muhlenberg made one last push, scoring three runs in the eighth, but Jaun and
Dylan Zucker combined to shut the door, with Zucker retiring the side in order in the ninth to secure the 15-10 win and the series sweep.
Gavin Simurdiak (4-0) earned the win with a scoreless inning of relief.
Hopkins returns to action Tuesday, April 7, hosting McDaniel at Babb Field at Stromberg Stadium. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m.
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
•
Gavin Simurdiak earned the win with 1.0 scoreless inning.
• Six Blue Jays recorded multi-hit games, led by
Alex Shane and
Clay Hartje. Shane went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, two runs, a two-run home run and two walks. Hartje also had three RBIs with two doubles.
• Jaun extended his hitting streak to 10 games and has recorded at least three hits in four of those contests.
•
Luke Baker has reached base safely in 22 consecutive games and recorded a hit in 14 of the last 15 games.
• The Blue Jays have scored three or more runs in 49 different innings through 27 games.
• Hopkins has hit multiple home runs in 16 of its 27 games this season and at least one in 22.
