March 25, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

Week In Review
Hopkins went 8-3 during the RussMatt Greater Phoenix Invitational in Arizona. The Blue Jays went 2-3 over their first five games before getting on a six-game win streak to close out their stay in Arizona. Junior first baseman Ryan Biner hit .615 while playing in six of the 11 games and senior third baseman Todd Emr hit .537 while playing in 10 of the 11 contests.

The Week Ahead
Hopkins returns home this week to begin its Centennial Conference title defense. The Blue Jays will host McDaniel on Tuesday in the Centennial opener for both squads before traveling to McDaniel on Friday. On Saturday, Hopkins hosts Swarthmore for a doubleheader.

Team/Individual Notes
• With 10 wins so far this season, Head coach Bob Babb is closing in on another coaching milestone. Babb needs three more victories to reach 800 for his career. He would become the seventh active coach at Division III to reach the mark and the 12th Division III coach overall.

• Senior Todd Emr was named the Centennial Conference Baseball Player of the Week on Monday. He hit .692 for the week including .727 during the six-game win streak. Emr is the second straight Blue Jay to earn player of the week honors, following fellow senior Jonas Fester, who was last week's honoree.

• Senior Jon Solomon needs six more hits to reach 100 for his career while fellow senior Tony Margve needs 12 more hits to reach 100 for his career. When those two reach the 100 mark, they will join Fester and senior Rob Pietroforte and become the first class since 1983 to have four guys with 100+ career hits.

• Fester needs two more doubles to tie the JHU and Centennial Conference record for career doubles at 50.

• During the current six-game win streak, the Blue Jays are hitting .440 as a team. They are averaging 12.3 runs per game while their opponents are averaging just 5.8 per game during the streak.

• Two Blue Jays recorded the first victory of their pitching career at Hopkins during the Arizona trip. Junior Matt Goldman and sophomore Matt Wiegand each picked up a victory on the hill.

• Fester is on a 23-game hit streak dating back to last season. The school record for a hit streak belongs to Steve Milo, who connected in 32 games from March of 1998 until March of 1999.

• Hopkins has 10 sacrifices (bunt or fly) this season. The team is led by Solomon, who has three and junior Dan Merzel, who has two.

• Hopkins pounded out 173 hits during its 11-game road trip. Of those 173 hits, 56 went for extra bases.

• The Blue Jays are hitting .694 this season with a runner on third and less then two outs. Junior Ryan Biner is a perfect 6-for-6 in these situations while sophomore Brian Youchak is 7-for-7.

• Hopkins has taken to scoring early and often in its first 13 contests. The Blue Jays are currently out scoring opponents 38-9 in the first two innings this year.

• In addition to Fester, the Blue Jays have several other players currently carrying hit streaks into the game against McDaniel on Tuesday. Solomon is on a 11-game hit streak while Emr and senior Nate Adelman have hit safely in eight straight contests.

• Wiegand currently holds the mark for most strikeouts in a game by Hopkins pitcher this season with seven.

• Hopkins has walked 52 times this season while Pietroforte has earned seven free passes. The mark for most walks in a single contest this season belongs to sophomore Tim Rappazzo, who walked three times against Springfield.

• Two Blue Jay hurlers have reached double digits in strikeouts on the season so far. Senior Joe Zaccaria has 13 strikeouts in 14.1 innings of work while Wiegand has recorded 12 strikeouts in 7.2 innings on the hill.

• Hopkins' .404 average is currently tops in the Centennial Conference while its 5.19 ERA ranks second among Centennial teams. Biner's .615 average is tops among Centennial Conference players.

• The Blue Jays are 11-2-1 in Centennial Conference openers under Babb.

• Blue Jay pitchers Dave Fioretti and Dan Schiffner have yet to allow a run on the mound this year. Fioretti has thrown 4.2 innings of scoreless relief while Schiffner has tossed 2.2 innings of no run ball.

• Seniors Ryan Kuhlman and Ryan Kealy each have two victories on the season. They are the only two pitchers on staff with multiple victories so far this season.

• Hopkins continues to remain ranked in both the ABCA poll and the D3baseball.com poll this week. The Blue Jays are ranked #21 in the ABCA poll, which the sports information office uses as its official ranking. Hopkins is also #10 in the D3baseball.com poll this week.

• Hopkins is 30-5-1 at home in the last three seasons.