By Lauren Dellipoali, Johns Hopkins Athletic Communications
The Basics
• Score: Hopkins – 6 • Franklin & Marshall - 5
• Records: Johns Hopkins (20-10, 9-2 CC) • Franklin & Marshall (11-13-2, 5-5-1)
• Location: Baltimore, MD • Babb Field at Stromberg Stadium
• Pitching Decision: W – Harrison Folk (2-1) • L – Danny Blugis (0-2) • S – Jack Bunting (1)
• The Short Story: Trailing 3-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth, the Johns Hopkins baseball team scored five runs to take a 6-3 lead on Franklin & Marshall, and after the Dips scored twice in the top of the ninth, Jack Bunting came in to seal the 6-5 win for the Blue Jays.
How it Happened
• Kengo Kawahara led off the game with a double to left but Sean McCracken got two strikeouts and a fly out to leave Kawahara stranded in scoring position.
• The Diplomats got two singles in the second but McCracken worked out of the inning once again without any damage.
• F&M broke through in the third inning as Kawahara scored on a ground ball out.
• The Blue Jays tied the game in the bottom of the inning as Dillon Bowman singled to lead off the inning and advanced to third on a double by Tim Kutcher. Chris DeGiacomo grounded out to score Bowman from third and tie the game.
• The eighth inning saw the Diplomats take the lead scoring two runs to take a 3-1 lead.
• In the bottom of the inning, Hopkins came back to take the lead tallying five runs on three hits. DeGiacomo singled to right with one out and advanced to second on a walk to Alex Darwiche, and a walk to Mike Eberle loaded the bases. Mike Smith singled to left to score DeGiacomo and bring the Blue Jays to within one run. Austin Sacks followed with a single to right to right to score Darwiche and Eberle and give Hopkins a 4-3 lead. Nate Davis reached on an error that scored Smith and Bowman grounded out to score Sacks and make the score 6-3.
• F&M rallied in its last at-bats as Kawahara led off with a walk and advanced to third on a ground-rule double by Kyle Ebert. Dan Marano knocked them both in with a with a double to bring the Diplomats to within one run. Bunting then came in and retired the next three batters in order to seal the one-run victory for the Blue Jays.
Team Leaders
Johns Hopkins:
Hits: Sacks (3)
RBI: Sacks (2)
Strikeouts: McCracken (5)
Franklin & Marshall:
Hits: Kawahara, Schwartz (2)
RBI: Marano (2)
Strikeouts: Mascis (5)
What it Means
• This was the first win for JHU this season when trailing heading into the eighth and Hopkin is now 6-6 in one-run games.
• The Blue Jays are now 66-36-1 against Franklin & Marshall all-time and have won last eight meetings. The Diplomats have not won in Baltimore since May 5, 2013.
Inside the Box Score
• Sacks led JHU with three hits and two RBI while Kutcher tallied two hits on the day. Kutcher now has a team-leading 12 multi-hit games this season.
• McCracken got a no-decision as he exited after 6.2 innings allowing just the one run on five hits. He walked two and struck out five. Bunting pitched a perfect ninth for his first save on the season and notched two strikeouts in the inning.
Up Next
• The Blue Jays and Diplomats will wrap up their home-and-home series on Friday, April 20 at 3:30 pm.
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