March 31, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

Week In Review
Hopkins went 4-0 this week to stretch its win streak to 10 games. The Blue Jays out scored opponents 63-6 to win easily. Sophomore Brian Youchak hit .583 for the week while the Blue Jays pitchers combined for 45 strikeouts and a 1.06 ERA. Head coach Bob Babb won the 800th game of his career against Swarthmore.

The Week Ahead
Hopkins has a busy week with five games in six days this week. On Tuesday, the Blue Jays visit Washington College for a conference match-up before stepping out of conference to visit Catholic on Wednesday.

Hopkins wraps up its series with Washington at home on Friday before visiting Muhlenberg for a doubleheader on Saturday.

Team/Individual Notes
• Head coach Bob Babb reached a coaching milestone in the doubleheader sweep of Swarthmore. With the 12-1 victory in game one, he became the seventh active coach at Division III to reach 800 wins and the 12th Division III coach overall.

• Seniors Jon Solomon and Tony Margve are closing in on 100 hits for their career. Solomon enters the week with 99 career base knocks while Margve stands at 93. When they reach the mark they will join fellow seniors Jonas Fester and Rob Pietroforte who reached the mark last season. It will also mark the first time since the 1983-86 class that four members of the class to reach 100 hits.

• Hopkins out scored its opponents 63-6 during four wins last week. During the current 10-game win streak, Hopkins is out scoring its opponents 137-41.

• Four Blue Jays carry a hit streak of eight or more games into this week's action. Fester has hit safely in 27 straight games dating back to last season while senior Todd Emr has connected in 12 straight. Margve carries a nine-game hit streak while senior Matt Benchener has an eight-game streak.

• Sophomores Greg Harbeck and Matt Wiegand have held opponents in check with runners on base. Opponents are hitting just .188 against Harbeck with runners on and .176 against Wiegand in the same situation.

• Hopkins is hitting .710 this season with a runner on third and less then two outs. Junior Ryan Biner is a perfect 8-for-8 in those situations while sophomore Brian Youchak is 9-for-10 in those opportunities.

• Junior Chez Angeloni and senior Ryan Kuhlman have had success on the hill against left handed batters. Left handed opponents are hitting just .176 against the pair this season.

• Senior captains Emr, Fester and Pietroforte have lived up to their leadership roles so far this season. The trio ranks in the top five for the Blue Jays in most offensive categories this season.

• Youchak was named the Centennial Conference Player of the Week on Monday. He is the third straight Blue Jay to capture player of the week honors. Youchak hit .583 and was tied for the team lead in hits and runs scored in four games last week.

• Kuhlman is close to cracking the top ten in several of the JHU career pitching categories. He has 21 career victories and needs one more to reach the top ten in that category. He also needs one more strikeout to break into the top ten for career strikeouts at Hopkins.

• Hopkins is hitting .423 during its current win streak. The group is led by Emr who is batting .605 and leads the team with 23 hits during those ten games. Biner is hitting .588 during the same stretch and leading the squad with six doubles and 18 RBIs.

• Senior Brian Duddie has a 0.90 ERA during the current win streak having allowed just one earned run during his 10 innings pitched and has two victories to his credit during that stretch.

• Fester has managed to work his way into the top ten of several of the JHU career statistical categories with his play early on this season. He needs two more doubles to tie the JHU and Centennial Conference record at 50. He also ranks among the top ten in career hits, runs batted in, runs scored, stolen bases and at bats at Hopkins.

• Hopkins leads the Centennial Conference in batting average (.399), ERA (.422) and field percentage (.968). Biner has the top batting average at .583 while Kuhlman has the best ERA in the conference at 1.71. Emr is tied for the conference lead in hits (30).

• Hopkins' seniors have provided leadership for the ball club early on. The nine seniors who have swung a bat for the Blue Jays this season have accounted for 111 of the 188 RBIs and 57 extra base hits.

• The catching and the pitching staff for the Blue Jays has done an excellent job of keeping the opponents from stealing bases this season. Opponents are just 5-for-14 in stolen base attempts this year including 0-for-3 on senior Joe Zaccaria and 1-for-5 against Margve.

• Emr leads the Blue Jays with 10 multi-hit games this year while Fester is second with nine multi-hit games. Fester also leads the team in multi-RBI games with eight.

• Hopkins has proven quite successfully in its ability to steal bases this season. The Blue Jays have 52 stolen bases in 62 attempts this year. The team is led by Pietroforte, who is 14-for-14 this season while seven other Blue Jays are perfect in their attempts this year.