BALTIMORE, MD – The Johns Hopkins baseball team opened up its 2024 season against Rutgers-Newark Friday afternoon, shutting out the Scarlet Raiders in a 7-0 win. This is the second straight year the Blue Jays have shut out their opponent in their season-opener, with Hopkins blanking 14^th-ranked Cortland ­­a year ago.
 
Kieren Collins made quick work of Rutgers-Newark's (0-1) lineup to start the contest, striking out the side to bring the Blue Jays to the plate. Alex Shane registered Hopkins' (1-0) first hit of the season on a liner to left field before Shawn Steuerer drew his first walk of the day, but the Jays were unable to capitalize in a scoreless opening inning.
 
The game remained knotted at zero in the bottom of the third before Hopkins finally broke the tie on Caleb Cyr's second double of the day. Matthew Cooper was the first to get on before another free 90 for Steuerer put runners on first and second. Dillon Souvignier then advanced the runners after grounding out to first, setting Cyr up to rip a double just past the outstretched hands of the Scarlet Raiders' left fielder to bring home a pair of runs and put the Blue Jays in front 2-0.
 
Hopkins added a run in the fourth on a sac fly from Shane before Collins ended his day with a 1-2-3 top of the fifth to keep the Jays up 3-0 just over halfway through the game. The graduate student impressed in his first start of the season, allowing three hits and striking out seven in five innings of work. His replacement, William Boneno, did not skip a beat in his first appearance, shutting down Rutgers-Newark for the ensuing three innings before Hopkins put the game out of reach in the bottom of the eighth.
 
Jimmy Stevens started the inning with a walk — one of four the Blue Jays would draw in the frame — before Tripp Myers was hit by a pitch and Dylan Whitney hit a bunt single to load the bases with no outs. Isaiah Winikur and Shane were walked on consecutive at-bats before a sac fly from Cooper made it 6-0. Steuerer reloaded the bases after drawing his fifth walk in as many at-bats, with a balk bringing home Hopkins' seventh and final run of the day.
 
Boneno stayed hot in the ninth, taking care of the middle of the Scarlet Raiders' lineup to secure the combined shutout with Collins and win no. 1 on the season by a score of 7-0.
 
The Blue Jays are back in action Saturday, Feb. 24 to kick off Day 1 of the Baltimore Invitational with a matchup against third-ranked Baldwin Wallace.
 
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• Collins was excellent in the start, allowing just three hits and striking out seven in five innings to earn his first win of the season. The grad student's 17 wins leave him one shy of cracking the top-20 for most wins in program history.
 
• Boneno had a career outing in the win, setting a new high-water mark in strikeouts with six and tying his previous best for innings pitched (4.0). The sophomore also secured his first collegiate save.
 
• Steuerer's five drawn walks are a career-high, the most in a single game in program history and are one shy of the NCAA record of six.

Inside the Box Score – Rutgers-Newark
• Vince Taylor put together a solid outing in his first start of the 2024 campaign, allowing three runs — two earned — and striking out four in 5.2 innings of work.
 
• Robert Gonzalez registered a team-best two hits in the loss, going 2-3 at the plate with a pair of singles.