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Johns Hopkins Baseball NCAA Tournament Notes
May 13, 2002
Complete Release in PDF Format
Recent Results: The Blue Jays sport a 34-7 record after concluding the regular season with five wins in their last six games and 22 wins in the last 25 games. After earning the top seed in the Centennial Conference (CC) with a 16-2 CC mark, Hopkins defeated Muhlenberg in consecutive games for the team's second straight conference title and fifth overall. JHU was defeated by 27th-ranked York, 9-6, in the final game of the regular season.
The Coach: Bob Babb is in his 23rd 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 614-238-8 (.719) record. Babb became the 14th active Division III head coach with 600 wins as Hopkins defeated Franklin & Marshall, 4-1, April 6. Under Babb's guidance, the Blue Jays have captured 10 Middle Atlantic Conference Southeast League titles, seven UAA titles, five Centennial Conference Championships, and are making their 10th appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Team & Player Notes
* 30-Win Plateau: Hopkins defeated Muhlenberg, 14-3, April 27 to reach the 30-win mark for the second straight year and the eighth time in school history. JHU's 34 wins are just two shy of the school-record set by the 1998 squad, which posted a 36-4 mark. The Blue Jays also extended their streak of consecutive 25-win seasons to 11. Seasons in which the Blue Jays have won at least 30 games:
Year, Record, Postseason
* Babb Reaches 600 Wins: Head coach Bob Babb picked up his 600th and 601st career victories as JHU swept a doubleheader against Franklin & Marshall April 6. He became the 14th active Division III head coach to win 600 games and currently sports a 614-238-8 (.719) career record in 23 seasons at Hopkins. Babb's milestone victories:
No., Opponent, Date, Score
* Strength in Numbers: A strength for Hopkins all season has been its depth. In all, 25 players have seen action in the field and another 12 have taken the mound. For the season, 23 players have scored a run, 22 have recorded a hit, and 21 have driven in at least one run. Fifteen players have driven in 10 or more runs, while 13 players have scored 10 or more runs. Eight pitchers have started at least two games, while 11 pitchers have seen action in six or more games.
* Power Surge: Sophomore Sven Stafford belted two home runs, his fourth and fifth of the year, in the season finale against York to give Hopkins a school-record 57 in 41 games. The Blue Jays averaged 1.39 home runs per game to shatter the school-record of 45 set during the 1998 season. Eighteen players have hit a home run and 11 have smashed three or more round-trippers. Ben Taylor leads the team with six homers, while Stafford, Joe Urban, Jay Cieri, and Carl Ippolito have each belted five home runs.
* Scoring in Bunches: The Blue Jays have scored 388 runs in 41 games for an average of 9.46 runs per game. Hopkins has scored 10 or more runs in 16 games and scored four or more runs in an inning 25 times. JHU scored a season-high 27 runs against Robert Morris, the most since a 30-0 win over Dickinson in 1987, and also scored 20 or more runs versus Dickinson (20-2) and Gettysburg (22-4). Last season, the Blue Jays averaged 7.02 runs per game for a total of 330 runs.
* Centennial Champions: After posting a 16-2 Centennial record and earning the top seed in the conference tournament, the Blue Jays defeated Muhlenberg twice for JHU's second straight CC Championship and fifth overall. Hopkins also won the Centennial during the 1994, 1997, 1998, and 2001 seasons. Overall, JHU sports a 125-36 (.776) all-time record in Centennial Conference games to rank first in the league.
* Home Sweet Home: JHU finished the regular season with an 18-3 record at home, including a 10-0 mark against Centennial Conference teams. The Blue Jays went 12-2 at home last year. Over the last five seasons, Hopkins has posted a 64-16 (.800) when playing at home.
* Sineath Swipes Records: Senior second baseman Karl Sineath led Hopkins with 42 runs scored and 18 stolen bases during the regular season to become JHU's all-time leader in both categories. Sineath scored three runs against Gettysburg April 24 to break the previous mark of 163 held by John Christ and currently has 168 for his career. He then stole one base versus Neumann College to set the stolen base record with 96 for his career, breaking Tom Finegan's school-record of 95. Sineath is also fourth in school history with 178 career hits and needs eight hits to move into second place.
*Rosenberg Sets Strikeout Mark: With nine strikeouts against Muhlenberg April 27, senior Yani Rosenberg became the school's all-time strikeout leader, breaking the mark of 241 set by Steve Hand. He currently has 259 strikeouts for his career, just the third player in JHU history to strikeout over 200 hitters, and has posted three of the top eight single-season strikeout totals in school history. This season, Rosenberg has totaled 71 strikeouts in 64 innings en route to a 9-0 record and a 0.84 ERA. He has won his last 17 decisions dating back to last year and is currently second at Hopkins with 28 career wins. Rosenberg's 17-game winning streak is the second longest in school history behind Scott Orlovsky, who won 19 straight decisions during the 1997 and 1998 seasons. He also ranks second at JHU in career winning percentage (.903, 28-3).
* Setty Sets Career-High for Wins: With five strong innings against Neumann April 29, senior Jason Setty improved to 6-0 on the year and 18-2 (.900) for his career. He allowed just one run on four hits while striking out five batters. Setty's six wins are a career-high and he has totaled a career-high 23 strikeouts against just five walks.
*Taylor Reaches 100, Twice: Senior Ben Taylor has totaled 27 RBIs and a career-high 39 runs scored this season to pass the 100-mark in both categories for his career. He is the 10th player in school history to total over 100 career runs and RBIs and currently has 104 runs and 106 RBIs for his career. Taylor leads the team with six home runs and ranks eighth at Hopkins with 16 career round-trippers.
* Catching Duo Excels At/Behind Plate: After batting a combined .209 (26-for-124) during the 2001 season, the catching duo of senior Tom Prevas and sophomore Doug Hitchner has posted a major turnaround this season. Prevas is currently batting .339 (19-for-56) and Hitchner has hit .387 (24-for-62) for a combined average of .364 (43-for-118). The two have also combined for just one error in 247 total chances.
*Ippolito & Cetta Have Breakout Years: Sophomores Carl Ippolito and Craig Cetta have been two of JHU's top players all year long. Ippolito started the year with a bang as he batted .442 (19-for-43) in his first 11 games with 16 runs and 17 runs batted in. He continued to play well and led the team with 11 multiple-RBI games and added 10 multi-hit games. Ippolito finished second on the team in hits (40) and runs batted in (34), third in runs scored (36), while adding eight doubles and five home runs. Cetta led the club with 39 RBIs and 44 hits, while placing sixth on the team with 29 runs scored. He also added nine doubles, four home runs, and nine stolen bases. Cetta was tops on the team with 12 multiple-hit games and second with 10 multiple-RBI contests.
*Urban Having Another Solid Season: Junior Joe Urban, in his second year as a starter, is having another solid campaign in right field. He is hitting .376 (38-for-101), is third on the team in RBIs (30), fourth in runs (35), and has added eight doubles and five home runs. Last season, Urban led the team with a .384 average while adding 29 runs, 35 runs batted in, and seven home runs. He is a .375 hitter for his career and boasts a career slugging percentage of .616.
*Several Players Key to JHU's Depth: A number of players combined to give Hopkins quality depth and solid production throughout the season. Freshman Mike Durgala, who made 18 starts at third base and as the designated hitter, led the Blue Jays in hitting for most of the season before finishing second on the team with a .412 average. He also added 15 runs, four home runs, and 21 runs batted in. Sophomore Brian Morley hit .388 (19-for-49) with 14 runs, four home runs, and 13 RBIs, while sophomore Sven Stafford belted five home runs and added 15 RBIs. Sophomore Tim Casale made 14 starts in the infield and totaled 21 runs and 10 RBIs, while placing second on the team with 10 stolen bases. Sophomore Rob Morrison batted .295 (18-for-61) with 24 runs scored, three home runs, nine runs batted in, and three stolen bases.
* Blue Jay Quick Notes:
~ Since the start of the 1990 season, Hopkins has posted a 374-142-1 (.724) record. Entering the season, the Blue Jays ranked 17th in Division III for the most wins since 1990, and 14th in winning percentage.
~ JHU sports a 125-36 (.776) all-time record in Centennial Conference games to rank first in the league.
~ Hopkins is hitting .346 (192-for-555) with runners in scoring position and .432 (19-for-44) with the bases loaded. Blue Jay pitchers have limited opponents to just a .238 combined average with runners in scoring position and .208 average with two outs.
~ The Blue Jays batted .353 in Centennial Conference games and averaged 9.38 runs per game. JHU also posted a 2.53 ERA against CC competition and limited opponents to a combined .187 batting average and 98 hits in 139 innings.
~ JHU has scored 124 runs with two outs compared to 54 for the opponents. Sophomore Craig Cetta leads the club with 15 two-out RBIs, while senior Ben Taylor and sophomore Doug Hitchner have both to totaled 11 two-out RBIs and junior Jay Cieri has added 10.
~ During his current team-high five-game hitting streak, Mike DePalma has batted .578 (11-for-19) with eight runs and four RBIs. DePalma has raised his average to a team-best .442 and has totaled three or more hits in five games this year. He has 91 career runs and needs just five RBIs to reach 90 for his career.
~ Craig Cetta has over half of his team-leading 44 hits with runners in scoring position. He is 6-for-6 with the bases loaded and is batting .418 (23-for-55) with runners in scoring position. He led the team with 22 hits and 21 RBIs in Centennial games.
~ The Blue Jays have outscored opponents in every inning, with the largest margins in the first (67-19), third (69-26), and sixth (75-28) innings. Hopkins has outscored opponents 388-to-174 for the season, or an average of 5.22 runs per game.
~ In 20.1 career innings pitched, sophomore Sven Stafford has allowed just two earned runs and nine hits while striking out 20. This season, Stafford boasts a 0.59 ERA in 15.1 innings and has added five home runs and 15 RBIs in just 41 at-bats.
~ Senior John Krivonak is batting a career-best .363 with a career-high 33 hits and 19 runs batted in. Krivonak has nine multiple-hit games and is fourth on the team in on-base percentage (.474).
~ With eight hits in his last 10 at-bats, freshman Paul Winterling raised his average to .378 (14-for-37). He has also scored four runs and added six RBIs over his last six games.
~ JHU has tied the school-record for being hit by a pitch as Blue Jay batters have been plunked 44 times. John Krivonak has been hit a team-high 10 times, while Ben Taylor has been hits six times.
~ Blue Jay pitchers have combined for 272 strikeouts in 330 innings and need 18 strikeouts to tie the school-record of 290 set last season in 373.2 innings. JHU pitchers have just 13 less strikeouts (272) than hits allowed (285).
~ The Blue Jays have failed to score in double digits in the last five games, which is the longest drought of the season. JHU has scored 24 runs in the last five games for an average of 4.8, yet has held opponents to 16 runs or 3.2 per game.
~ Hopkins is 10-1 in games decided by two runs or less and 20-2 in games decided by five runs or more. The Blue Jays have won 13 games by eight runs or more. JHU was 4-0 in Centennial games decided by two runs or less and 6-0 against conference competition in contests decided by more than eight runs.
Directions to Bear Stadium, Boyertown, PA
From Pennsylvania Turnpike (Points West): Take exit 23 Downingtown. Take PA 100 northbound, go 15 miles to US 422 West. Take 3rd exit to Rt. 100 North. Follow Rt. 100 North to the Boyertown/Gilbertsville exit. Turn left onto Rt. 73 West. Turn right onto Madison Avenue. Turn left at stop sign, then one block down turn right onto Monroe Street. The stadium and high school will be straight down the road.
From Pennsylvania Turnpike (Points East): Take exit 24 King of Prussia. Take US 202 southbound and go 1/2 mile to US 422 West. Take 3rd exit to Rt. 100 North. Follow Rt. 100 North to the Boyertown/Gilbertsville exit. Turn left onto Rt. 73 West. Turn right onto Madison Avenue. Turn left at stop sign, then one block down turn right onto Monroe Street. The stadium and high school will be straight down the road.
From Baltimore/Washington: I-95 North to Wilmington. Exit at US 202 northbound. Follow US 202 for 18 miles and exit onto PA 100 North. Follow PA 100 for 25 miles to Pottstown. Exit onto US 422. Take 3rd exit to Rt. 100 North. Follow Rt. 100 North to the Boyertown/Gilbertsville exit. Turn left onto Rt. 73 West. Turn right onto Madison Avenue. Turn left at stop sign, then one block down turn right onto Monroe Street. The stadium and high school will be straight down the road.
From Allentown: Take 78 West to PA 100 South (approx. 30 miles). Take the Boyertown/Gilbertsville exit. Make a right off the exit onto 73 West. Turn right onto Madison Avenue. Turn left at stop sign, then one block down turn right onto Monroe Street. The stadium and high school will be straight down the road.
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