BALTIMORE, MD – The Johns Hopkins baseball team hosted Juniata in its first double header of the season Sunday afternoon, beating the Eagles 15-2 in Game 1 before completing the sweep with a 11-2 Game 2 win.
Game 1: Hopkins 15, Juniata 2
Juniata threatened early in Sunday's opener with a leadoff single. The Eagles ripped a double to left center on the next at-bat, but a perfect relay from Dylan Whitney to Caleb Cyr caught Juniata's runner at home to keep the Eagles off the board. The Blue Jays did not waste their opportunity in the bottom of the inning, using a Matthew Cooper double down the right field line and error by Juniata's first baseman to jump in front 2-0.
Ryan Anderson made quick work of the Eagles over the next two innings in his first career start for Hopkins before the Blue Jays blew the game open in the bottom of the third. Isaiah Winikur, Cooper and Shawn Steuerer drew walks to load the bases with just one out and Cyr at the plate. The junior battled through a tough at-bat before lining a ball down the left field line to clear the bases and put Hopkins up 5-0.
Singles from Jimmy Stevens and Dillon Souvignier scored Cyr and put runners at first and second, setting up Whitney to rope his first home run of the year to score three more and balloon the lead to 9-0. Back-to-back singles from Tripp Myers and Winikur extended the Blue Jays' hit streak to six before a pair of fielder's choices ended the frame.
Steuerer opened the fourth with a triple, crossing home plate after a Stevens single up the middle to make it 10-0 before Juniata broke the scoring drought in the top of the fifth. An error by Quinn Rovner to start the inning led to a bases loaded, one-out scenario for the graduate transfer, with a walk bringing in the Eagles' first run of the season before a grounder to first ended the frame.
Hopkins added three runs in the sixth on RBIs from Myers and Seif Ingram and solo shots from Damian Brown and Campbell Framke — his first career hit — in the eighth to build the lead back to 15-2 before Drew Grumbles and Tyler Sugrim combined for a shutout final three innings to win Game 1.
Inside the Box Score — Johns Hopkins:
- Anderson threw four scoreless innings in his first collegiate start, but it was Quinn Rovner earning his first win in a Blue Jay uniform after allowing one unearned run in one inning of work.
- Sugrim was excellent in his 2024 debut, holding the Eagles without a hit and fanning five in two perfect innings.
- Eleven different Hopkins players registered a hit in the win, with Winikur, Stevens and Myers all registering multi-hit days at two apiece.
- After combining to score just 14 runs with one homer in its first three games, Hopkins' bats heated up in Sunday's first game totaling 15 runs and three homers.
- Damian Brown roped his second home run of the season, already surpassing his total from a season ago, while Campbell Framke turned his second collegiate at-bat into a home run to score the Blue Jays' season-high 15th run of the game.
Game 2: Hopkins 11, Juniata 2
The Eagles scored the first run of Game 2 in the first inning despite not registering a hit, using a pair of walks, a wild pitch and a balk to go up 1-0. The favor was quickly returned, however, with a throwing error in the bottom half of the inning bringing Jacob Harris across home plate to tie the game at one.
After a difficult opening inning, starter Beardan Awadzi was nearly perfect for the rest of his four-inning outing, tallying a career-best 10 strikeouts and allowing just one more run on one hit. While the sophomore held Juniata in check on the mound, the Blue Jays bats got hot once again, turning a 2-1 in the third inning into an 8-2 lead through five.
Winikur opened the five-run third with a single to center, stealing second before knotting the game back at two after a Steuerer double. Back-to-back hits by Stevens and Souvignier gave Hopkins its first lead of the game at 4-2, with a two-RBI triple by Clay Hartje — the freshman's first career hit — putting the Jays up four.
Insurance runs from Cooper and Myers in the fourth and fifth innings made it an 8-2 game before a three-spot in the eighth with RBIs coming from Steuerer and Lukas Geer extend the lead to nine.
Entering the game in the ninth Cole Jefferson continued to lock up the Eagles' batters, allowing a leadoff hit before retiring Juniata's next three to secure the 11-2, Game 2 win and sweep on the day.
Next up for Hopkins is a matchup with Rutgers-Camden Tuesday, March 5, with first pitch scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
Inside the Box Score — Johns Hopkins:
- The Blue Jays' pitchers allowed just two hits in Game 2, with William Boneno, Matt Savedoff and Grant Meert holding the Eagles without a hit in four combined innings.
- The quintet also combined for 18 strikeouts, the most in a single game in at least the last 20 years.
- Boneno tossed two perfect innings to secure his first collegiate win.
- Cooper had the hot bat in Sunday's second win, going 3-5 with a pair of doubles. Also putting together multi-hit days were Steuerer, Geer and Hartje.
- With his 1-3 effort in Game 2, Whitney has secured a hit in all five of Hopkins' games this season, extending his hitting streak to 14 contests dating back to May 27, 2023