Hopkins Sweeps Up Garnet
SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- The Johns Hopkins baseball team swept both ends of a Centennial Conference doubleheader from Swarthmore Saturday afternoon, posting scores of 8-3 and 10-5 at Clothier Fields.
The Blue Jays improved to an 11-8 overall and 4-1 in the Centennial while the Garnet fell to 8-14 and 0-5 in league play.
In the first game, Hopkins got on the board right away with a double from junior Brian Youchak sending home senior Dan Merzel.
Swarthmore went ahead one run in the third making the score 2-1. Sophomore Ben Schneiderman (Easton, Pa. / Easton) got things started with a single and then advanced to scoring position off a Blue Jay error. Freshman Mike Waterhouse (Weston, Conn. / Weston), who went 2-for-3 on the day extending an eight-game hitting streak, reached first base off an error before Schneiderman crossed the plate to tie the game. Infielder Anthony Montalbano (Edison, N.J. / John P. Stevens) cracked his fourth double of the season, collecting an RBI.
Hopkins went up 7-2 in the bottom of sixth inning, scoring four additional runs. Swarthmore junior Wiley Archibald (Berkeley, Calif. / The College Prep School) tripled to right field in response, sending third baseman Conor Casey (San Francisco, Calif. / Lowell) tapping across home plate.
The game wrapped-up with a Blue Jay solo home run, coming off the bat of Ryan Biner, making the final score of game one, 8-3.
Blue Jay Greg Harbeck (2-0) pitched six innings, striking out six batters for the win. Freshman Kyle Crawford (Mississuga, Ontario / Cawthra Park School) pitched the first 5.2 innings for the Garnet, fanning six Blue Jays.
The second game started off much like the first, Hopkins up one run and Swarthmore collecting two runs in the third, making the score 2-1 to stir the home town fans.
The Blue Jays and Swarthmore sat tied (2-2) in the sixth as the Garnet wore out a tread to the pitching mound. Nine pitchers in all for appeared in the game for Swarthmore, and the Garnet relievers had Johns Hopkins off-balance (three hits through the first six pitchers over 7.0 innings) together before
Swarthmore found its self in a tough spot: pair of runners and the heart of the Blue Jay lineup up. JHU flexed its offensive muscles, scoring five runs in the top of the eighth to push their lead to 7-2. A shot by Ryan Biner (home run, six RBIs in game two) to center took a ride in the 30 mph winds, hitting the deep part of Clothier Fields on a single hop.
Freshman shortstop Spencer Ross (Chappaqua, N.Y. / Horace Greeley) singled to put Montalbano in scoring position in the bottom of the eighth. Right fielder Jimmy Gill ’10 (Lewes, Del. / Henlopen) sent a double of his own to center, plating both Ross and Montablano, and a Conor Casey RBI single got the Garnet within 7-5.
Three Hopkins runs in the ninth inning pushed the game out of reach--the JHU bullpen cleaned up the ninth and the fans headed for shelter to escape the windy conditions.
Marco Simmons went 7.2 innings on the mound for the Blue Jays, picking up the win with six strikeouts. Freshman Ignacio Rodriguez (Silver Springs, Md. / St. Johns College HS) (0-1) took the loss for Swarthmore.
The Garnet will continue their Centennial Conference schedule tomorrow with a trip to McDaniel for a doubleheader already postponed twice. The third try is set for a 12:30 p.m.