March 14, 2008

Box Score

CHANDLER, AZ - The #10 Johns Hopkins baseball team opened its spring trip to Arizona with a doubleheader sweep of Pitt-Bradford on Friday in Chandler, AZ. The Blue Jays (4-0) needed extra innings in the first game to win 7-4 and used an offensive onslaught in the second game for a 16-1 victory.

After struggling through extra innings in the first game, the Blue Jays wasted little time in getting the offense going in the second game. The first three Blue Jays in the bottom of the first reached base and Hopkins had a quick 2-0 lead. Leading 3-0 with two outs in the first inning, senior Matt Benchener crushed a ball over the 375-foot sign in center field for his first home run of the year and a 5-0 lead after one inning of play.

The Blue Jays would tack on five more runs in the second inning; all of those runs came via singles or walks. At the same time the Blue Jay offense was heating up, senior Joe Zaccaria was taking care of business on the mound for the Jays. Zaccaria went five innings, allowing just four hits and striking out five.

The Blue Jays would add two more runs in the fifth and four runs in the sixth to open up a 16-0 lead after six innings of play. Pitt-Bradford would get on the board in the top of the seventh as a pair of Blue Jay errors would allow Phil Solley to single home Cory Hochschild with Pitt-Bradford's lone run of the game.

Zaccaria picked up the win for the Blue Jays on the hill while the loss went to Ricky Riesenberger of Pitt-Bradford. Rob Pietroforte went 4-for-4 with three runs scored and RBI while Jonas Fester finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Brendan Walsh finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored.

In the first game, Hopkins got on the scoreboard first in the third inning. Junior Dan Merzel reached and advanced to second after an error by the left fielder. He was then sacrificed to third by senior Jon Solomon and scored via a sacrifice fly from sophomore Brian Youchak.

The game stayed that way until the bottom of the fourth inning when Pitt-Bradford reached Blue Jay starter Brian Duddie for three runs in the inning. The Panthers got their runs on a couple of singles sandwiched around a pair of walks. Hopkins retook the lead in the top of seventh, thanks to a two run single from Solomon.

Senior Ryan Kealy got the first out in the bottom of the seventh before a Pitt-Bradford solo home run sent the game to extra innings. In the eighth inning, Hopkins retook the lead on an infield single by junior Dave Garber. The Blue Jays would add to their lead on an RBI triple from Fester and an RBI single from Merzel.

Senior Paul Martone set the Blue Jays down in order in the bottom of the eighth to secure the victory and pick up the save.

Kealy picked up the win in the first game, his second straight for the Blue Jays. Jake Wells took the loss in game one for Pitt-Bradford. Merzel finished the game, 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored to lead the Blue Jays. Tony Margve finished the day 2-for-3 at the dish.

Hopkins is back in action on Saturday, March 15 against SUNY-Cortland. The contest will pit two teams ranked in the top 10 of the ABCA preseason poll against each other. First pitch is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. MST.