SWARTHMORE, PA – The Johns Hopkins baseball team hit the road for just the third time this season to take on Swarthmore Tuesday afternoon, riding the bats of Preseason All-Americans Matthew Cooper and Shawn Steuerer to come home with a hard-fought, 8-6 win.
 
Down 2-1 through five, the duo hit a pair of three-RBI base knocks in the sixth and seventh innings to give themselves a lead they would never relinquish en route to the team's eighth straight win.
 
Neither side was able to get much going offensively in the opening third of Tuesday's contest, with the Garnet registering the lone hit for either side before the shutout came to an end in the fourth. A wild pitch with the bases loaded put Hopkins (18-6, 6-0 Centennial) up 1-0, but it was Swarthmore (14-11, 4-2 Centennial) tying things right back up and taking the 2-1 lead with RBIs in the fourth and fifth.
 
The Blue Jays — who were still without a hit to this point in the game — finally broke through in the sixth after Caleb Cyr hit a leadoff single, advancing to second after Dillon Souvignier drew his second walk of the afternoon. Jacob Harris' third free 90 of the day loaded the bases, setting up Matthew Cooper to rip a bases-clearing double to right center to put Hopkins back in front 4-2.
 
Swarthmore put two on the board in the bottom of the sixth to level things once again, but the Jays' bats stayed hot in the seventh to build their largest lead of the night. Cyr got things started after getting hit by a pitch, with Souvignier's single on the ensuing at bat putting two on with Shawn Steuerer stepping up to the plate. The junior was held in check through six innings, but on his fourth at bat of the evening roped one over the center field wall to plate three more runs and give Hopkins a 7-4 lead.
 
The Blue Jays got some much-needed insurance on an Alex Shane solo home run in the top of the ninth to go in front 8-5, with the Garnet's comeback effort falling short in a two-run win for Hopkins.
 
The Jays are back in action Wednesday, April 10 to take on Washington College, with first pitch of the Centennial Conference bout set for 3:30 p.m.
 
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• William Boneno made his first start of the season in Tuesday's game, allowing one run on four hits and striking out two in four innings of work. The sophomore's 28 Ks rank second on the team as does his 2.22 ERA.
 
• Earning his first win of the season was Cole Eggleston, who allowed one run in 0.1 innings, while Bearden Awadzi secured his first save after allowing a lone run in three innings in relief.
 
• Hopkins' five hits are its fewest in a game this season. Despite their struggles at the plate, the Blue Jays have won their last three contests while totaling just five, six and seven hits respectively.
 
• Cooper came up big in the clutch with his bases-clearing double to give the Jays a 4-2 lead. The two-bagger was the graduate student's eighth of the season to give him a share of the team lead, with his three RBIs moving him to 10 on the year.
 
• Steuerer was responsible for five of Hopkins' eight runs in the win, scoring twice himself and bringing in three more. The junior's home run to give the Blue Jays the lead for good was his fifth of the season.
 
• Shane's insurance run in the ninth was his sixth of the season. After totaling just three a season ago, the sophomore has doubled that total in Year 2 and shares the team lead with Cyr.