Championship Central
Top seeds Johns Hopkins and McDaniel both came away with home victories in the opening round of the double-elimination portion of the Centennial Conference baseball championship on Thursday afternoon. The tournament now shifts to Baltimore, Md. for Saturday-Sunday at Johns Hopkins.
In Baltimore, Trailing by five runs in the sixth inning, top-seeded Hopkins exploded for a six-run rally to roar past fourth-seeded Ursinus, 8-7. Down to their final 12 outs and trailing by five, the Blue Jay offense found its spark in the bottom of the sixth. Clay Hartje ignited the rally with his second solo home run of the day, followed by a clutch two-run double from Luke Baker to pull Hopkins within one. The momentum shifted when Alex Shane
tripled on the second pitch he saw, knotting the game at 7-7. The hit parade continued as William Juan laced a go-ahead double—the team's fifth consecutive hit—to give the Blue Jays their first lead of the day at 8-7.
After a rocky start, veteran starter Kieren Collins (6-0) showed his mettle. With the lead finally in hand, Collins retired six straight batters across the seventh and eighth innings, including two dominant three-up, three-down frames. Dylan Zucker came on in relief and struck out the final two batters of the game to secure his eighth save of the season. Shane led the way for JHU, going 4-for-5 with an RBI and finished a home run shy of the cycle. Hartjee added who solo homers while Jacob Harris was a triple away from the cycle.
Brett Barrett led the Bears with four RBIs, including a three-run homer in the third inning, while Luke Kopec went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and Matthew Callahan had two RBIs.
In Westminster, Md., second-seeded McDaniel downed third-seeded Washington College 12-4 behind a grand slam and six-RBI performance from Anthony Cerone at Preston Field. The win gave the Green Terror (29-12) conference tournament wins in consecutive seasons, having defeated Gettysburg in the opening round of last season's tournament. It marks the second-straight year the team has won a home playoff game at Preston Field.
Cerone went 2-for-5 with a team-high six RBIs and two runs scored while Ethan Haddock tallied a season-high four hits in five plate appearances with two RBIs. Thomas Mezzullo went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored while Ben Davis also had a two-hit day at the plate, scoring three times. Luke Wood got the start and the win, improving his record to 5-1 with three strikeouts, four walks, three earned runs and eight hits allowed on 95 pitches. Chase Shepard earned a four-inning save, striking out one and walking two while allowing only one hit.
Drew Kinsey went 3-for-4 and scored once for the Shoremen while Chase Ruppel had a team-high two RBIs and also scored once.
Action now moves to Baltimore on Saturday with Washington College and Ursinus facing off in an elimination game at 10 a.m. Hopkins and McDaniel will then square off at 1:30 p.m. for a spot in the championship round.
Tuesday, Apr. 28 | Collegeville, Pa.
Game 1: #4 Ursinus d. #5 Gettysburg, 4-2 | Box Score
Thursday, Apr. 30 | at #1 & #2 seeds
Game 2: #1 Johns Hopkins d. #4 Ursinus, 8-7 | Box Score
Game 3: #2 McDaniel d. #3 Washington College, 12-4 | Box Score
Saturday, May 2 | Baltimore, Md. | TICKETS
Game 4: #4 Ursinus vs. #3 Washington College, 10 a.m.
Game 5: #1 Johns Hopkins vs. #2 McDaniel, not before 1:30 p.m. or 30 minutes after game 3
Game 6: Winner of game 4 vs. Loser of game 5, begins 30 minutes after game 4
Sunday, May 3 | Baltimore, Md.
Game 7: Winner of game 5 vs. Winner of game 6, 12 p.m.
Game 8: Championship game, if necessary, begins 30 minutes after game 6
