BALTIMORE, MD – Two four run innings propelled the Johns Hopkins offense past the Alvernia College Crusaders, en route to a 15-3 win at Babb Field this afternoon.
The visitors got on the board first, as Ben Sawyer led the second off with a single, before Zach Nadolny tripled off the wall in deep center, scoring Sawyer and putting the visitors ahead, 1-0.
Hopkins would respond in a big way in the third, as Raul Shah singled to lead off the inning. Shah would steal second before Pete Siciliano would single him in, tying the game at one. Conor Reynolds would follow with a ground-rule double over the wall in left-center, putting two men on with no outs.
Both runners were forced to stay at their base on Thomas Mee's groundout to third, but the pair scored when Colin McCarthy blasted a double to the wall in right. Craig Hoelzer would single in McCarthy on a hard-hit ball back up the middle, giving the Jays a 4-1 lead.
Nadolny would respond with a solo shot over the wall in left in the top half of the fourth, closing the gap to 4-2. The homer was his third of the season.
The two teams traded zeroes in the next two half innings, before the Jays exploded in the fifth.
Reynolds got things going in the with a single and a steal of second, his 12th swipe of the season. Mee then changed the scoreboard, as he throttled a ball over the fence in left for his second dinger of the year.
After a McCarthy strikeout, Hoelzer walked and Albert was plunked, putting two on for David Mampre. A wild pitch moved the runners up 90 feet, putting both in scoring position. Mampre would get a piece of the next pitch, nubbing it back to the pitcher.
Running hard from third, Hoelzer scored, and forced pitcher Tim Carfrey to rush his throw, which ended up alongside the bullpen down the right field side. Albert would score on the play, too, and Mampre would eventually find his way to third after the error.
Starter Nick Burns and the Hopkins defense would put another zero on the board in the top of the sixth, before the Jays put some more runs on the board in the bottom half of the inning.
After back-to-back walks by Siciliano and Reynolds started the inning, Mee would pop out to third before McCarthy would walk, too, loading the bases for Hoelzer. The senior once again came up big, rocking a double to the wall in right, scoring Siciliano and Reynolds and giving Hopkins a 10-2 lead.
Burns would deal again in the seventh, as he saw just four batters in a scoreless innings for the visitors. His offense would back him again in their at-bat, as Jon Hayden hammered a double to the wall in center to start the Hopkins half of the inning.
Raul Shah would walk, putting two on with nobody out. Siciliano would strikeout before Reynolds ripped a double that would score Hayden and put Shah on third. Mee would then bring Shah home with a sac-fly to left, extending the Hopkins lead to 12-2.
The Jays would add three more in the eighth, as Zach Robbins and Colby Wilson would each reach base before Shah clobbered a ball way over the wall in left for his first homer of the year.
On the mound, Burns was dealing all day, using his pinpoint control to keep Crusaders hitters off balance, leading to six strikeouts in eight innings pitched in his second win of the year.
In the win, Hoelzer extended his hit streak to 11 games, while Reynolds pushed his to seven.
Hopkins is back in action tomorrow as it hosts the Washington College Shoremen in an important Centennial Conference game. First pitch is slated for 3:30 pm.