June 13, 2008

BALTIMORE, MD - The 2008 NCAA Runner-Up Johns Hopkins baseball team will honored at Baltimore's Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Tuesday night (June 17) in a pre-game ceremony that will preceed the Major League Baseball game between the Houston Astros and the Baltimore Orioles. As part of the pre-game festivities, Johns Hopkins head coach Bob Babb will throw out the ceremonial first pitch (approximately 6:50 pm). Game time is scheduled for 7:05 pm and a number of players from the 2008 team will be on hand.

Babb, a 1977 Johns Hopkins graduate and a standout baseball player at Hopkins during his undergraduate days, guided Johns Hopkins to a 42-8 record and the program's second trip to the NCAA Division III College World Series in 2008. The Blue Jays advanced to the national championship game before falling, 5-4, to Trinity (CT). Along the way Johns Hopkins grabbed its ninth Centennial Conference Championship and the NCAA South Region title as well. The 42 wins and 50 games played are both school records. Hopkins led the nation in six categories in 2008, including team batting average (.377) and runs scored (539). In all, the Blue Jays ranked in the top 15 in the nation in 11 of the 25 statistical categories tracked by the NCAA.

While the runner-up finish is the best in school history, Hopkins' place among the top programs in the nation was cemented long before this season as Babb has enjoyed a great deal of success during his 29-year career at JHU. Early in the 2008 season Babb became just the 12th coach in NCAA Division III history to reach the 800-win mark and he now boasts an overall record of 829-288-10 (.740). He has guided the Blue Jays to 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, nine Centennial Conference Championships, 10 MAC Southeast titles and seven UAA titles. In addition, Johns Hopkins has won 25 or more games in each of the last 17 years.

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