Aside from a single loss to Gettysburg College late last week, the Hopkins baseball team has continued its torrid season as the Jays went 4-1 in the past week to improve to 21-9-2 on the season and 11-2 in Centennial Conference play.
In the team's lone loss of the week, the Bullet's offense in the first inning was all the team would need to snap a 12-game losing streak against the Blue Jays at Homewood. The two early runs against senior Lucas Henneman set the stage for a dominant performance by the Gettsyburg defense. While Bullets starting pitcher Drew Felsenthal got himself into trouble several times, Hopkins was unable to capitalize on the opportunities as Felsenthal performed admirably to secure the win for his team. Junior Mike Kanen continued his strong season, going 3-for-5 with three singles. However, Kanen’s offense would not be enough as the work of Felsenthal through 8.2 innings powered the Bullets past the Jays.
Looking to rebound from the loss, Hopkins handed the ball to senior right-handed pitcher Alex Eliopoulos.
Throughout the 2012 season, Eliopoulos has been one of the brightest stars on a team full of great players. At 5-0 on the season, Eliopoulos has positioned himself as one of the elite pitchers not only in the Centennial Conference, but also in all of Division III baseball.
The pitcher once again delivered a gem for the Blue Jays in a 2-0 win in the first game of a double-header against the Centennial Conference bottom-dwelling Ursinus Bears. Through eight strong innings, Eliopoulos struck out 10 while allowing only eight hits and no runs.
The shutout was a result of tremendous composure on Eliopoulos' part as he worked his way out of difficult situations several times during the game. In the third the Bears managed to load the bases with just a single out, giving themselves a golden opportunity to take the lead. Despite the tight spot, Eliopoulos forced Ursinus' Ben Gresh to ground into a double play to end the inning and escape unscathed.
Towards the end of the game in the eighth inning, Eliopoulos once again found himself with the bases loaded against a dangerous Centennial foe and a small two run lead. Yet as he has done all season, the senior got Bears third baseman Joel Ackerman to swing-and-miss for the third struck, closing out the inning and setting the stage for senior closer Aaron Schwartz to earn his sixth save of the season.
After allowing a two-out single, Schwartz shut the door on Ursinus, getting Gresh to fly out for the final out of the game. The win was also Eliopoulos' sixth of the season.
In a quick turnaround, head coach Bob Babb then looked to sophomore Tyler Goldstein to shut down Ursinus for the second time in the same day.
While the Hopkins offense made a turnaround in the day's second game, the Ursinus Bears could not say the same. As a result, the Blue Jays came away with yet another win, 6-1.
The scoring began early for Hopkins with senior Mike Musary sending junior Jeff Lynch home from third on a sacrifice fly in the top of the second. The Jays followed the second inning with a three run third as junior Kyle Neverman, senior Aaron Borenstein, and Lynch all rounded the bases for Hopkins, giving Goldstein a 4-0 lead to work with.
The sophomore would not squander the opportunity, following Eliopoulos' lead in shutting down the Bears with five strikeouts and only a single earned run through nine innings. The complete game one hitter was Goldstein's first complete game of his career as he improved his record to 4-2 on the season.
The next day, Hopkins traveled to Rutgers, NJ to face Rutgers-Newark. Unlike the team's previous two wins, this time around Rutgers-Newark scored the first runs of the game as they brought players home in the bottom of the first and second innings to take a 2-0 lead over the Jays. The arm of senior Garrett Gomez lasted only three innings before being pulled in favor of fellow senior Mike Berliner.
In the top of the fourth the Hopkins offense finally found some life as they managed three runs to take the lead over the Scarlet Knights. However, Berliner then allowed two runs in the bottom of the inning to give Rutgers-Newark the lead back.
The pitching carousel then continued for the Jays as senior Ryan Scherich relieved Berliner for the next two innings and sophomore Ed Byner relieved him in the eighth inning.
Despite the lack of a starter going deep into the game that Hopkins had seen with Eliopoulos and Goldstein on the mound, the Jays were still in a position to win as the game entered extra innings tied 6-6.
In the top of the 10th, junior Chris Wilhelm blasted a three-run home-run deep over the left field fence, driving home senior Joe Hemmes and sophomore Ben Eckroth. Wilhelm's second homer of the season proved to be the difference as Schwartz would finish off the Scarlet Knights in the bottom of the 10th to give Hopkins the 9-7 win.
The Blue Jays then closed off the week with a 3-1 win victory over Washington College behind the arm of senior Sam Eagleson.
Eagleson held a no-hitter through four innings and finished a complete game with a two-hitter, earning his third win of the season and the team's 21st win of the season.
At one point, Eagleson threw a first pitch strike to 15 straight batters and only once allowed multiple runners on base. His dominant performance demonstrated the type of blistering command he had over the ball on the day while also proving to the rest of the Centennial Conference that the Blue Jays boast one of the deepest rotations in the conference.
The offense was provided by a solo home-run from Lynch and a two-run home-run from Neverman.
The Blue Jays now have a mere eight games remaining on the slate before heading into the Centennial Conference Tournament. With strong pitching performances from players such as Eliopoulos and Eagleson, coupled with offensive output from hitters like Kanen and Wilhelm, Hopkins has all the tools to make a run deep into the postseason. The Blue Jays will be looking to defend the conference crown for the sixth straight year, all under head coach Bob Babb who has led the Blue Jay baseball program for 32 years.
With the stellar play, Hopkins now stands a full three games ahead of second and third place Washington College and Haverford, respectively.
Hopkins will return to the field tomorrow at home against Washington, 3:30 p.m.
