This past Saturday, the Hopkins men’s baseball team took on the Mules of Muhlenberg in a doubleheader that led to them clinching the Centennial Conference. With the wins in both games over Muhlenberg College, the Blue Jays will host the Centennial Conference Tournament next weekend.
The Jays won both games in a convincing fashion. The first game was a 6-1 performance, while the second game ended up 11-3 in favor of the Blue Jays.
The Jays were led by dominant pitching by junior Carter Burns in the first game and senior Jake Enterlin in the second game, while senior Craig Hoelzer had a strong day at the plate.
The Jays opened up with to a 2-0 lead courtesy of sophomore Ryan Orgielewicz and Hoelzer. Hoelzer would eventually hit a three-run homer out to center field to put the Jays up 6-0 and account for his fourth RBI of the day.
“In the first game we should have scored more. I don’t think we were aggressive enough,” Hoelzer said. “In the second game we played better offensively. We had at least an error in each game, though, which hopefully we can eliminate in the future.”
The only run the Mules scored came in the sixth inning. The Mules loaded the bases on consecutive singles, and eventually got a runner over the plate resulting from a single by Nick Kennedy.
Burns had a great day on the mound for the Jays as he almost finished with the game with a no-hitter.
“We had great pitching in both games from Carter Burns and Jake Enterlin, and did a good job of scoring when we got people on base, which was an issue for us earlier in the season,” Hoelzer said. “Getting early leads has been important in order to get the momentum early also.”
The second game was a huge offensive effort for the Jays. The Jays got help from Reynolds, Casey, McCarthy and Hoelzer to give themselves a 3-0 lead after the first inning.
Reynolds pulled a sneaky move after being walked in the third inning, stealing a base before Casey would also get on base with a walk. After Reynolds was tagged out for the first out of the inning, Hoelzer almost snuck one by Usewick who was able to flip the ball to second base and get another out.
Sophomore Daniel Albert hit a single following the play and sent Casey home from third base. The Jays would keep the foot on the pedal and eventually get the score to 10-0 after six innings.
“Personally I’ve tried to just keep the same level of focus and confidence each game no matter what has happened. It’s helped me get over failures and not get caught up in success. Having teammates that continue to push me and have the same goals in mind has been a huge help as well,” Hoelzer said. “The rest of the season looks like it should be very exciting. I’m hoping to win the conference tournament this weekend and make it back to the regional tournament. From there anything can happen. We just need to take it one pitch at a time and not get ahead of ourselves and good things will happen.”
The Jays will host the Centennial Conference Tournament next weekend at Babb Field. However, the first game of the tournament will be played Thursday, April 30 at McDaniel College due to security concerns in Baltimore.
