Hopkins Sweeps Muhlenberg to Run Record to 33-0

Blue Jays Win, 11-4 & 12-2

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Junior Mike Durgala had seven RBis in the sweep of Muhlenberg.

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April 24, 2004

Box Score

BALTIMORE, Md. -- The top-ranked Johns Hopkins baseball team ran its record to 33-0 overall and 17-0 in the Centennial Conference with a doubleheader sweep of host Muhlenberg Saturday afternoon. The Blue Jays won game one, 11-4 as an eight-run second inning paved the way to victory, while a 12-2 win in game two saw the Blue Jays sprint out to a 7-1 lead after three innings and cruise to the win.

Hopkins got all the runs it would need for junior Ryan McConnell (Lancaster, PA/Penn Manor) in the second inning of game one as the Blue Jays plated eight runs on six hits and two Muhlenberg errors. Tim Casale (West Hempstead, NY/Chaminade) and Rob Morrison (Malibu, CA/Loyola) both laced RBI singles and junior Mike Durgala (Annandale, VA/Thomas Jefferson) rapped a two-run double to highlight the inning. Durgala later scored the final run of the inning on a double steal as he raced home while senior Brian Morley (Tappan, NY/Don Bosco Prep) stole second.

The Blue Jays added a pair of unearned runs in the fourth inning as Morley and Craig Cetta (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) both raced home on an error. Morley had walked and Cetta had singled to set up the two-run, two-out rally. An Eric Nigro (Randolph, NJ/Taft Prep) run-scoring single in the sixth plated Gary Rosenberg (West Bloomfield, MI/West Bloomfield) to close the scoring for the Blue Jays.

McConnell worked five innings and gave up seven hits and two runs to pick up the win. The Mules picked up a run in the first as Adam Sadler had a run-scoring single, but McConnell didn't allow another run until his final inning and improved to 5-0 on the year with the win. Morley was the only Blue Jay with a multi-hit game as he was 2-for-2 with a run scored and also walked once to lead the way offensively.

Game two saw the Blue Jays jump out to another early lead as a three-run first was followed by a four-run third to put the game away. Junior Paul Winterling (Glenelg, MD/McDonogh) ripped an RBI-triple and Cetta knocked home Morley with an RBI-double to fuel the early rally. Morley had singled and Durgala had knocked home Winterling with a sacrifice fly.

Durgala was right back in the middle of things in the four-run third inning as his three-run home run, his fifth home run of the year, ignited the inning for the Blue Jays. Morrison had opened the inning with a single and Winterling reached on an error before Durgala's home run to left field. Junior Mike Spiciarich (Syosset, NY/Chaminade) added a run-scoring single later in the inning to close out the scoring.

The Mules, who had scored their first run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the second, surrendered two more runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth to fall behind 12-1. Winterling had an RBI-single and Durgala added an RBI-double in the fourth, while senior catcher Bryan Eberle (Frederick, MD/Urbana) had an RBI single and sophomore Corey Gleason (Binghamton, NY/Binghamton) and junior Dave Motegari (West Hempstead, NY/Chaminade) both added sacrifice flies in the three-run fifth.

Senior Matt Righter (Clarion, PA/Lawrenceville Prep) was in control from the start for the Blue Jays on the mound. He allowed just four hits and walked one while striking out five in five innings of work. Six different players had two hits in the game-two victory for the Blue Jays with Durgala knocking in a game-high five runs to fuel the 17-hit attack.

Johns Hopkins will host Dickinson at 3:30 pm on Monday afternoon. The Blue Jays are looking to become the first Centennial Conference team to go through league play undefeated. Hopkins went 17-1 in 1994 and 1998 and the 1995 Franklin & Marshall Diplomats went 16-1-1.

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