The Hopkins baseball team split their games this past weekend, losing their first against Franklin & Marshall College and winning their second behind a strong outing from senior right-hander Jake Enterlin.
The Jays struggled offensively and defensively against the Franklin & Marshall Diplomats in game one.
They were held to just four hits and committed a season-high seven errors. The first two innings of the game were scoreless.
In the third, Hopkins committed four errors behind freshman hurler Nick Burns, leading to five runs for Franklin & Marshall. The Diplomats scored again in the eighth inning, bringing the tally to 6-0, which would be the final score of the game one.
Hopkins struggled offensively throughout the game. They were held to four hits and drew just three walks, due in large part to a noteworthy performance by Franklin & Marshall pitcher Alex Guerra.
No Jay made it past second base, and they were held to one-two-three innings on four occasions.
“The conditions were very windy, so we knew runs were going to be hard to come by,” Enterlin said. “We made a few mistakes on defense that cost us some runs and ended up costing us the game.”
The Jays turned around their uninspiring performance in the second game against Franklin & Marshall.
Sophomore shortstop Conor Reynolds began the Hopkins run with a single and then a stolen base.
He scored after a single by senior first baseman Colin McCarthy. The score remained 1-0 through the next six innings until the Diplomats evened it in the seventh. Franklin & Marshall’s Matt Mezansky hit a double and then moved to third base on a sac bunt.
He then stole home to even the score. The Jays answered in the next inning when senior Chris Casey hit a one-out double to left field. McCarthy followed with a single to center.
Senior outfielder Craig Hoelzer then reached safely on a fielder’s choice, which resulted in McCarthy getting out but Casey scoring, giving Hopkins a 2-1 lead.
Freshman Mike Smith then hit a double, advanced to third on an errant throw and scored because of the error by the catcher.
The two-run hit gave Hopkins a 4-1 lead into the bottom half of the inning.
Enterlin recorded six outs out of the last seven batters in his third complete game of the season.
“I was glad to see that we battled back in the second game and got some offense going,” Enterlin said. “It was a great team win.”
He struck out seven while allowing only eight hits and one walk.
