June 15, 2004
2004 Johns Hopkins Season Review
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Season in Review: Johns Hopkins finished the season 40-4, setting school single season records for wins and winning percentage. This season marks the 13th consecutive season with 25 or more wins, the school's seventh Centennial Conference baseball crown, and the first 40-win season for the baseball. The Blue Jays reached the top of the ABCA Collegiate Baseball poll for the first time in program history on March 29 and remained there until May 25, becomming the first Hopkins team other than men's lacrosee to be ranked No. 1 in its respective poll.
The season began in early March as the Blue Jays defeated the Falcons of Messiah College, and continued as the Jays picked up a doubleheader sweep of the Hawks of SUNY New Paltz.
The Blue Jays next flew south to Clearwater, Florida to play 10 games. Hopkins remained perfect in Florida by, running its record to 13-0. Perennial NCAA Tournament participant, Suffolk was defeated first to begin the trip. The trip included a doubleheader sweep of Ripon and coach Gordie Gellespie, who owns the most victories of any Division III coach, while the final game of the trip pitted #24 Wheaton against the Jays, ranked sixth at the time. Hopkins jumped out quickly scoring nine runs in the first two innings, cruising to a 17-4 victory, and its perfect record in tact as The Blue Jays began their league schedule.
After defeating Gettysburg in a home-and-home series to begin the conference slate, the Jays battled Ursinus in a doubleheader at Hopkins. Many believed this battle matched the top two teams in the Centennial Conference. The Blue Jays pulled off two dramatic wins over the Bears, the first on a walk-off home run by Carl Ippolitto, and the second on a walk-off single by Mike Durgala to plate Craig Cetta.
Hopkins continued their unbelievable start by defeating both league and nonleague opponents, including #20 The College of New Jersey. After cruising through the Conference unbeaten and securing the top seed in the Centennial Conference Tournament, the Jays traveled to Montclair State to battle the 30th- ranked Red Hawks. After trading leads thoughout the, Montclair handed the Blue Jays their first defeat of the season 4-3, ending their 33-game winning streak.
After defeating Franklin & Marshall twice to earn an conference title, and the automatic berth to the NCAA tournament, the Blue Jays garnered the No.1 seed in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional in Boyertown, PA. JHU began the tournament by defeating Juniata, 6-0, behind the complete game shutout of Jeremy Brown, only the second shutout in NCAA play in school history. The next day, behind the strong pitching of Matt Righter, the Jays moved past St. Joseph's (NY), 7-2 to move into the final game of the winner's bracket. A loss to No. 8 Rowan forced the Jays into a must- win situation in the loser's final against Arcadia, which finished 28th in the final poll. Russ Berger pitched seven strong innings to lead the team to a 7-3 victory, while Rob Morrison and Mike Spiciarich each homered. On the final day of the tournament, Hopkins once again met the Profs of Rowan, but fell in the ninth inning despite a fabulous pitching performance by, Jason Thayer, who limited the Profs to two runs, one earned, and three hits in of eight innings of work.
Despite the loss at the end of the season, the Blue Jays remained among the elite teams in Division III finishing the season ranked 7th in the ABCA/Collegiate poll. Hopkins will return a number of experienced players in 2005 and will attempt to win its fifth straight Centennial Conference Championship.
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