Jays reign over rivals at bat and on the mound
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After beating Washington College 17-3 last Tuesday, during a spate of victories by 10 runs or more, Hopkins baseball's head coach, Bob Babb, was prophetic.
"That ain't gonna happen all year, believe me," he said.
Three days later, they beat Washington College again. This time the score was 18-3.
The Blue Jay offense has been nothing short of incredible this season. En route to a 19-4-2 record (7-1-1 in conference), the Jays have scored more than 10 runs in a game an amazing 15 times.
As of April 10, Hopkins is leading the conference in batting average (.371 team average), runs (259), hits (321), doubles (53), stolen bases (68) and strikeouts (96), and they're second in home runs (25) to Haverford's 29.
Three Blue Jays -- sophomore shortstop Jonas Fester, senior left fielder Bryce Baumann and sophomore designated hitter Rob Pietroforte -- are first, second and third in the conference in runs scored, respectively. Pietroforte is leading the league with a .527 batting average, and Fester leads the league with 24 steals.
Pietroforte has been particularly exemplary. For his production during the week of March 27-April 2, he was named the Division III Player of the Week by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association (NCBWA), in addition to being named the Centennial Conference Player of the Week. He went 11-for-16 for the week, including two home runs, three triples and a double. He leads the Jays with 27 RBI.
But despite the big Blue Jay bats, Babb's prophecy has begun to come true.
"I think [Tuesday] was the worst game of the year offensively," Babb said after Hopkins managed to squeak by McDaniel, 4-2. "I hope that it was an anomaly and not us regressing."
Since the 18-3 win over the weak Washington College, the Jays have played three consecutive games decided by two runs or fewer, including a 2-0 loss to Franklin & Marshall, Hopkins' first loss in 11 games. The Jays managed only four hits during the loss, with only one runner advancing as far as second.
F & M senior starter Ted Serro was throwing a perfect game one out into the fifth inning, and he didn't slow down after giving up his first hit to senior second baseman and co-captain Corey Gleason. He walked none, gave up only the four singles and finished the job for a seven-inning complete game shutout.
But the Jays did get their revenge against the Diplomats, last year's Centennial Conference champs. Behind senior left-hander Jim Flannery, the Jays put up four runs in the first frame from a Pietroforte sacrifice fly and a three-run bomb from sophomore third baseman Todd Emr. Emr leads the team with five long balls this season.
The Jays maintained the lead for the duration of the game, stretching it to 7-2 in the bottom of the fifth. But they began to unravel in the top of the seventh, bringing back memories of big innings from Wisconsin-Whitewater that almost cost them the game and from The College of New Jersey that did cost them the game.
Flannery started the inning with authority, getting two quick outs. But a costly error from Fester kept the inning alive, and F & M wouldn't let it die. Two singles and a double later, the score was 7-5, and Flannery was lifted for junior right-hander Brian DeLeo.
After a quiet eighth, the Jays were in trouble again in the ninth. A hit batsman, a single, a steal and another Fester error put Diplomats at second and third with no outs and the middle of the order coming up. Senior third baseman Gary Kruger turned the Blue Jays' fears into reality, poking a single to third that led to an out at third but drove in a run, bringing F & M within one.
Senior righty and co-captain Andrew Bail, though, wouldn't let the game go. He came in and put the fire out, inducing two consecutive groundouts to put the game in the books.
But the loss took the Jays out of first place, with Muhlenberg taking over. Somehow, though, the Jays took the spot back in their "worst game of the year offensively." How?
Simple: They also have the conference's best pitching.
As of April 10, the Jays led the Centennial Conference with a 2.93 ERA, 183 hits allowed and 180 strikeouts. Sophomore right-hander Ryan Kuhlman -- last week's Conference Pitcher of the Week and an honorable mention for NCBWA Pitcher of the Week -- maintained his hot hand by going the distance against McDaniel, his second complete game in three starts. He threw more than 120 pitches, the most of any Blue Jay pitcher this season, and rang up 13. In spite of the pitch count, he kept getting better as the game went along, retiring the last 15 batters in order for his fourth win of the season. Kuhlman's strong start was just what the Jays needed while their offense was struggling against McDaniel starter Chase Wolf, who held Hopkins scoreless in their last four frames.
Explaining Kuhlman's high pitch count, Babb said, "I wasn't sure we were going to score anymore, and he seemed to get stronger and stronger all the way through the game. Towards the end of the game they didn't do anything against him."
Fatigue seemed to work in Kuhlman's advantage, since he was able to keep the ball down better when he wasn't overthrowing.
"When I was keeping the ball down, they weren't hitting," he said.
After a game at McDaniel on Friday, the Jays head back home for a pivotal doubleheader against Haverford, two games that could decide the final conference standings. Babb hopes the offense is back on track by then.
"We can't just show up," he said. "We have to come out focused and do what we do best: putting the bat on the ball, hitting line drives and running the bases."
The Jays take the field against the Fords on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.