BALTIMORE, MD – The eighth-ranked Johns Hopkins baseball team jumped out to a six-run lead after three innings and never let visiting Ursinus get closer than four the rest of the way as the Blue Jays knocked off the Bears, 11-2, in the 2026 Centennial Conference title game at Babb Field Sunday afternoon.
With the win, the Blue Jays grab their fourth consecutive and 20
th overall Centennial Conference title. Johns Hopkins improves to 33-9 on the year, earns the Centennial Conference's automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Tournament and hands
Nate Mulberg a conference title in his first season as the head coach at Johns Hopkins.
The Blue Jays scratched across two runs in the bottom of the second on the strength of three doubles to grab an early two-run lead.
William Jaun opened the inning with a double down the line in right, advanced to third on a fly out and then raced home on a
Clay Hartje double to right. Hartje later scored on a
Shane Keough sacrifice fly.
The lead would grow to six after three innings as Johns Hopkins collected four runs on five hits with all four runs coming with two outs. A
Lukas Geer double to left center chased home
Alex Shane, who had singled, and Geer and Jaun both came home on a three-run Hartje home run to right to make it 6-0.
Ursinus got on the board in the top of the fifth as they touched Blue Jay starter
Ryan Anderson for two runs.
George Nesto was hit by a pitch to open the inning and
Devin Fogg followed with a single to right. With two outs and Nesto at third and Fogg at second,
Luke Kopec roped a double into the left field corner to chase home Nesto and Fogg and trim the deficit to four.
The Blue Jays answered immediately with a five-run fifth of their own to extend the 6-2 lead to 11-2. After the first three Blue Jay hitters reached – Shane on a single, Jaun on a walk and Geer on a hit by pitch – Hartje continued his torrid streak as he greeted relief pitcher
Barritt Ross by taking his second pitch deep over the wall in right for his second grand slam in as many days. Hopkins tacked on another run with two outs as
Hamilton Adams raced home on a
Jacob Harris sacrifice fly to account for the fifth and final run of the inning.
The Bears would get runners on in three of their last four chances at the plate, but after Anderson left in the top of the sixth, relievers
Nicolas Jos,
William Boneno and
Dylan Zucker would preserve the nine-run lead with Zucker getting Kopec swinging to end the game.
Hartje went 3-for-5 with eight RBIs and three runs scored to close out a weekend-long performance that landed him the tournament's Most Valuable Player award. In the Blue Jays' three games in the tournament, he was 9-of-14 with 18 RBIs, six home runs and eight runs scored.
Shane, Jaun and Adams all added three hits on the day to pace a 15-hit Blue Jay attack. Johns Hopkins' three through seven hitters were a combined 14-of-22 with 11 runs scored and nine RBIs.
The four Blue Jay pitchers allowed just five hits, although the Bears worked three walks and had four batters hit by a pitch. Ursinus would strand 10 runners on the day, including five over the last four innings.
Hopkins will now await its postseason path, with the NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament Selection Show scheduled for Monday, May 11.
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
•
Ryan Anderson (3-0) earned the win, tossing 5.0 strong innings. He allowed two runs on two hits and two walks while striking out one.
•
William Jaun has recorded a hit in 23 of the last 25 games and has recorded at least three hits in seven of those contests.
• The Blue Jays have scored three or more runs in 72 different innings through 42 games.
• Hopkins has hit multiple home runs in 26 of its 42 games this season and at least one in 34.
Gallery: (5-3-2026) Baseball vs Ursinus (CC Championship)
