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Baseball Weekly Notes
May 6, 2003
Complete Release in PDF Format
Results: The Blue Jays defeated Muhlenberg twice in the Centennial Conference Playoffs to win the conference title for the third straight season and sixth overall. Hopkins won the first game of the championship series, 9-2, on Saturday before securing the championship with a 6-4 win on Sunday.
Up Next: Hopkins returns to action Wednesday as the Blue Jays host York College in the final home game of the season at 3:30 p.m. JHU then closes the regular season with a non-conference games at Salisbury University Friday beginning at 3:00 p.m.
The Coach: Bob Babb is in his 24th season as head coach of the Blue Jay baseball. Babb, who is the all-time winningest men's baseball coach in JHU history, sports a 646-245-8 (.723) record. Last season, Babb became the 14th active Division III head coach with 600 wins as JHU defeated Franklin & Marshall, 4-1, on April 6. Under Babb's guidance, Hopkins has captured 10 Middle Atlantic Conference Southeast League titles, seven UAA titles, six Centennial Conference Championships, and made 11 appearances in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Team & Player Notes
* Three-Peat: After earning the top seed in the Centennial Playoffs with a 16-2 conference record, Hopkins defeated Muhlenberg twice in the best-of-three championship series to win its third consecutive conference title. The Blue Jays won the first game, 9-2, and captured the title with a 6-4 win in the second game. JHU has won six Centennial Conference titles, which is most in the league, while Ursinus has won three and Franklin & Marshall has won one. Hopkins also captured the Centennial title during the 1994, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002 seasons.
*NCAA Tournament Berth: By winning the Centennial Conference, the Blue Jays have secured the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament. JHU will be making its third straight appearance and 12th overall, including 11 under coach Babb. Hopkins, which is 14-23 (.378) all-time in the NCAA Tournament, went 1-2 last year after earning the top seed in the region. The NCAA will announce the seeding for the year's tournament on the evening of Sunday, May 11. The Blue Jays also reached the NCAA tournament during the 1976, 1980, 1986, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2002 seasons. The 1989 squad won its region to reach the College World Series and finished third nationally.
* Winning Ways: Hopkins is having another exceptional campaign with a 31-5 record through 36 games. Including this year, the Blue Jays have posted a 406-149-1 (.731) record since the start of the 1990 season. In that time, JHU has won six Centennial titles and reached the NCAA Tournament eight times. The Blue Jays have also won 25 wins for the 12th consecutive season and reached 30 wins for the ninth time in program history.
* Strength in Numbers: Through 36 games, JHU has displayed its depth with 24 players seeing time in the field and 11 pitchers taking the mound. Twenty-one players have recorded at least one RBI, while 22 players have scored a run and 23 players have tallied at least one hit. Eight pitchers have started a game this year and 10 pitchers have made at least five appearances.
* Scoring in Bunches: The Blue Jays have scored 322 runs in 36 games for an average of 8.94 runs per game. Hopkins has scored 10 runs or more in 14 games, including a school-record 32 runs in a 32-2 win against Washington on April 14. The Blue Jays also scored 23 runs against Swarthmore in a 23-8 on April 6. JHU has scored at least four runs in an inning on 23 occasions. Last season, the Blue Jays averaged 9.09 runs in 44 games for a total of 400 runs.
* Winning Big: Hopkins has won 15 games by seven runs or more this season and is outscoring opponents by an average margin of 5.72 runs per game. JHU is 18-1 in games decided by five or more runs. Last season, JHU won a total of 14 games by seven runs or more.
* Power Surge: JHU has hit 55 home runs in the first 36 games for an average of 1.52 home runs per game. The Blue Jays are just two home runs shy of the school mark of 57 home runs set in 44 games a year ago. A total of 17 players have hit at least one home run, while seven players have three or more homers. Sophomores Paul Winterling and Mike Durgala are tied for the team lead with 10 home runs. Junior Craig Cetta has a career-high six home runs, while senior Jay Cieri and sophomore Paul Long have both added five homers.
* Clutch Hitting: Hopkins is hitting .343 (163-for-475) with runners in scoring position and .349 (224-for-641) with runners on base. Blue Jay pitchers have limited opponents to just a .205 combined average with runners on base. Paul Winterling has a team-high 23 hits with runners in scoring position, while Mike Durgala is hitting .458 (22-for-48) and sophomore Paul Long has hit .455 (15-for-33) with runners in scoring position. Junior Bryan Eberle has made the most of his opportunities as he has hit .524 (11-for-21).
* Streaking: The Blue Jays have posted three winning streaks of eight games or more this season, including an 11-game winning streak April 14 through April 28. Hopkins won eight straight games to start the year and also won eight consecutive games from March 23 through April 6. JHU has nine winning streaks of five games or more since the start of the 2001 season. JHU won 10 consecutive games at one point last season, while the school record for consecutive wins is 18 set by the 1989 team.
* Centennial Dominance: With its 16-2 record in Centennial Conference games, Hopkins has improved to 141-38 (.787) all-time in conference games, which is tops in the league. The Blue Jays are 45-9 (.833) in Centennial contests since the start of the 2001 season.
* Record-Breaking Performance: In Hopkins' 32-2 win over Washington College, the Blue Jays set a school record for runs in a game and tied the NCAA Division III record for grand slams, while Paul Winterling tied one NCAA mark and fell just shy of another. Winterling tied the NCAA record with two grand slams in one game and totaled 11 runs batted in, just one RBI shy of the record. Bryan Eberle added a grand slam as JHU became just the second school in Division III to hit three grand slams in a game. Winterling also hit a three-run home run as the Blue Jays belted eight home runs in the game.
* Durgala and McConnell Earn Centennial Weekly Honors: Sophomore Mike Durgala was named Centennial Player-of-the-Week and sophomore Ryan McConnell earned Pitcher-of-the-Week honors for their performances last week, the league announced Monday.
Durgala went 7-for-16 (.437) with six runs and eight RBI as Hopkins completed a 5-1 week. He was 4-for-5 with three runs and two RBIs as JHU defeated Ursinus, 15-3, to clinch the top seed for the Centennial Playoffs and belted a two-run home run against Gettysburg in a 5-4 win. Durgala then hit a two-run home run and drove in four runs in a 9-2 win over Muhlenberg in the first game of the Centennial Championship series.
McConnell went 2-0 last week as he earned wins in JHU's two biggest victories of the season. He allowed two runs on three hits while striking out six in six innings as Hopkins topped Ursinus to clinch the top seed in the Centennial Playoffs. McConnell followed that by striking out a season-high nine batters and giving up three earned runs in 7.1 innings as the Blue Jays defeated Muhlenberg, 6-4, for the Centennial Conference Championship.
* Winterling Having Breakout Year: Paul Winterling is having a tremendous season as he leads the Blue Jays in nearly every major offensive category. He is hitting .404 and is tops on the team in runs (42), hits (44), doubles (12), total bases (90), stolen bases (12) and slugging percentage (.826). Winterling is also tied for the team lead with 10 home runs and second with 40 runs batted in. His 10 home runs rank fifth on the JHU single season list.
* Cieri Leads the Way: Senior Jay Cieri has been one of JHU's top hitters this season from the leadoff spot. He leads the team in walks (27) and on-base percentage (.517), while ranking third with 32 runs scored. Cieri, who is batting .356 with 32 hits in 90 at-bats, has also hit five home runs and totaled 16 RBIs. Last season, Cieri walked 30 times, just six walks shy of the school single-season record, and posted a team-best .508 on-base percentage.
*Durgala Solid in Cleanup Spot: After a sensational freshman season, sophomore Mike Durgala is having another outstanding campaign. He is hitting .394 with 39 hits in 99 at-bats and is tied for the team lead with 10 home runs, while leading the club with 41 RBIs. Durgala, who has been hit by a pitch a team-high 10 times this season, is also second on the team with 33 runs scored and has totaled nine doubles, eight stolen bases and a .788 slugging percentage.
* Pitching Staff Continues to Shine: Blue Jay pitchers have not allowed more than six runs in the last 17 games to lower the team's combined ERA to 3.08. JHU has struck out 274 batters in 280.2 innings and need just 17 strikeouts to set a school single-season record. The 2001 squad set the school mark with 290 strikeouts in 373.2 innings, while last year's team finished with 283 strikeouts in 356.0 innings.
Nine of the 10 JHU pitchers that have seen action in five or more contests have an ERA of 3.71 or lower. Senior Jeremy Brown has recorded 34 strikeouts in his last three starts and leads the team with 70 strikeouts, while Ryan McConnell struck out a season-high nine against Muhlenberg in the Centennial Conference Playoffs. The Blue Jays have five shutouts after posting three all of last season and have allowed two or fewer runs in 16 games.
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