After starting the season 3-0, the Blue Jays baseball team looked to continue their dominance heading into this weekend. Their performance against Rutgers-Newark on Friday kept the team on track.
Junior Tyler Goldstein made his second start of the season and was lights out. All starters this weekend were limited to 5 innings but it certainly looked as if Goldstein could have gone the distance. The right-handed hurler allowed just one hit and one run over five innings while striking out seven on the day.
The Blue Jays got things started early in the bottom of the first inning with back to back to back doubles from seniors Jeff Lynch, Ryan Zakszeski and junior Mike Delinger. The Blue Jays added to the lead when senior Kyle Neverman hit an inside the park homerun in the fifth inning. Hopkins was able to manufacture two more runs in the inning due to poor fielding on behalf of the Scarlet Raiders.
In the bottom of the sixth, Zakszeski launched another double down the left field line and plated two more runs for the Blue Jays. The team kept tacking on runs in the seventh and the eighth when sophomore Chris Casey and junior Ben Eckroth added to the teams RBI tally by notching one a piece.
The stellar Blue Jays pitching and the relentless hitting, powered by Lynch’s 4-4 performance and Zakszeski’s team-high three RBIs, proved to be too much for the Scarlet Knights to handle and they ultimately fell to the Blue Jays with a score of 12-3.
Following the match-up against the Scarlet Raiders, the Blue Jays returned to the field against The University of Mary Washington and the bats did not let up. For the second game in the row the Blue Jays plated 10 or more runs en route to victory.
Sophomore Jake Enterlin was on the bump for the Blue Jays and looked solid throughout four frames to pick up his second win of the season.
The Jays picked up right where they left off, notching five hits in the bottom of the second inning and scoring four runs.
Sophomore Craig Hoelzer roped a single to plate an RBI and put the Blue Jays out on top. Chris Wilhelm then stepped up to the plate and singled to score Hoelzer. Neverman added to the RBI list and put the Blue Jays up 4-2 after the second inning.
The Blue Jays put the ball in play in the remaining innings and forced Mary Washington to make plays that kept coming up short. The Eagles committed three errors in the fourth inning and paved the way for four more runs and extended the lead.
The Blue Jays bullpen held the Eagles relatively quiet for the remainder of the game, largely due to the impressive work by junior Zach Augustine. Augustine came into the game with the bases loaded and no outs. He proceeded to get two consecutive ground-outs and then a strikeout to get out of the jam, ultimately preserving the fifth straight win for the club.
The Blue Jays came back on Monday to take the field against The Catholic University of America for their first loss.
The Catholic pitching staff shut down the Blue Jays from the start, but it was the number of errors made by the defense that ultimately led to the squad’s first loss. In a seemingly never ending third inning, Catholic plated enough runs to take an 11-1 lead over Hopkins.
Despite having the bats quiet for most of the game, the Blue Jays were able to make a push in the 9th when sophomore Matt Daum belted a three-run home run to cut the lead to seven. It was not enough as the Blue Jays recorded their first loss.
The Blue Jays will look to build off of their solid 5-1 start in the next week over spring break as they travel to Ft. Myers, Fla. for spring training. Despite losing a tough match-up with Catholic, the team is confident in how things have started. “We got off to a hot start on both sides of the ball and I was very proud of the young pitching staff stepping up early,” said senior catcher Ryan Zakszeski. “The team is excited to get down to Florida and get into rhythm which is where our offense usually shows its abilities.”
Senior captain Mike Kanen also offered his input on the beginning of the season.
“With the exception of Monday, I think we’ve been running on all cylinders,” he said. “Not only have we been scoring runs, we’ve been doing it throughout the lineup with 12,13,14 guys contributing regularly.”
The Blue Jays are certainly excited for some warmer weather in Ft. Myers and will be eager to get back on the field to keep this momentum going.
