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Fioretti Goes The Distance As Blue Jays Upset No. 1 Seed Ursinus, 11-1 In Centennial Conference Tournament Play
May 2, 2009
COLLEGEVILLE, PA - Senior Dave Fioretti tossed a complete game for the Johns Hopkins baseball team as the Blue Jays cruised past Ursinus, 11-1 in the second round of the Centennial Conference Tournament. JHU (24-14) is now the only team in double-elimination Centennial Conference Tournament without a loss. Ursinus (25-10-2) plays Franklin & Marshall for the bid to the Centennial finals on Saturday, May 2 at 4 p.m. The Bears managed their first hit in the fourth with one out but a line-out at shortstop caught Brett Umstead off guard, as the Blue Jays threw back to one for the double-play tag to end the inning. A base hit by James Teta in the fifth gave John Swarr time to bolt from second to score the first run of the game. Centennial Conference Player of the Year Todd Emr used a single and a stolen base to put himself on second as Ryan Biner stepped up to the plate. Stepped up he did as Biner's single up the middle earned him the RBI on the play as Emr touched home for a 3-0 Hopkins lead. The Blue Jays ran away with the contest in the sixth inning, scoring six more runs for the 9-0 lead. Two walks and two doubles paved the way for the six-run inning. Swarr led off with a double and Dave Kahn drew the walk. An error in the infield put Teta at first and pushed Kahn and Swarr over one base each as Dan Merzel came up with the two-RBI single to left field. Emr walked to load the bases a second time in the inning with one out. A wild pitch allowed Teta to score and left two on base for Biner. The senior smacked the second double of the inning to center field to put Emr and Merzel across the plate. Brian Youchak ripped one to right field and advanced to second on a throwing error as the junior tallied an RBI on Biner's dash to the plate. JHU finished the inning with a 9-0 lead on four hits and two errors.
In the eighth, Teta singled to right and moved to second on a sacrifice from Merzel. Emr sent a hot-shot up the middle to score Teta and Emr advanced a base on a wild pitch before Biner grounded out to third to put Emr in scoring position. Emr would score on a Youchak single through the right side for an 11-0 advantage. Ursinus got a double from Ben Lockman with two outs in the eighth to put Mike Schwager across the plate after a double of his own for the Bears' only run. Youchak had a 4-for-5 outing with one double while Swarr went 3-for-3 with a double for Hopkins. Fioretti notched his second complete game of the season as he struck out six for the Blue Jays. Hopkins will face the winner of the Franklin & Marshall/Ursinus contest at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 3 in Collegeville, Pa. for game six of the Centennial Conference Tournament. |
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