Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Johns Hopkins University scored the first six runs of the game, and the No. 15-ranked Blue Jays out-hit Gettysburg 18-10 en route to a 10-5 Centennial Conference victory Tuesday afternoon at Kirchhoff Field.

The Blue Jays (18-4, 7-1 CC) did the bulk of their damage in the fourth inning, scoring four runs against Bullet starter Derek Zaleski (Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield) with two outs. The last two of those runs were unearned.

Gettysburg (14-14, 6-3 CC) drew to within 8-5 after plating two runs in both the seventh and eighth, but Hopkins pushed across two insurance runs in the ninth.

Freshman shortstop Chris Simard (Lexington, Mass./Belmont Hill) led the Bullets at the plate, going 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles. Junior rightfielder Andrew Burton (McLean, Va./McLean) was 2-for-4 with a triple while junior leftfielder Scott Vladyka (Stanhope, N.J./Lenape Valley Regional) went 2-for-3.

Todd Emr was 4-for-5 for the Blue Jays while Tony Margve went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs. Brian Duddie (3-0) scattered six hits over six innings while striking out four to pick up the win.

Entering the game ranked second in Division III in batting average (.391), Hopkins went up 2-0 with a three-hit first inning. Then in the fourth, Zaleski got the first two outs before running into trouble, as the next six batters reached base. Lee Bolyard singled through the left side before No. 9 hitter Nate Adelman and leadoff man Jon Solomon drew consecutive walks. Brian Youchak followed up with a two-run single to left, making it 4-0, before two more runs scored on a Gettysburg error one batter later. After another Blue Jay single, Zaleski got out of it with a pop-out.

The Bullets got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the inning on an RBI-single from senior catcher Mike Donohue (Livingston, N.J./Livingston) that made it 6-1. But Hopkins answered with a run of its own during a four-hit sixth against Gettysburg reliever Michael Sweeney (Bethesda, Md./St. Anselm's Abbey School). However, Vladyka prevented further damage when he threw a runner out at the plate to end the inning. It was his second outfield assist of the day and his fifth of the season. He also started a 7-4 double play in the fifth when he caught a line drive and picked a runner off second.

Sophomore second baseman Mike Backus (Piscataway, N.J./Immaculata) pulled Gettysburg to within four (7-3) when he drove a single into the left-center gap against Hopkins reliever Joe Zaccaria, knocking in a pair of runs. But after rounding first, he quickly retreated to the bag after apparently missing the base. He was then thrown out attempting to steal, ending the inning.

Rob Pietroforte pushed the Blue Jays lead to 8-3 in the eighth when he clouted a towering solo homer to left-center, but Gettysburg answered with two more runs against Zaccaria in the bottom of the inning. Senior first baseman Matt Stillitano (Ewing, N.J./The Hun School of Princeton) led off with an infield single before scoring on a two-out triple to right-center from Burton, who crossed the plate on a wild pitch that made it 8-5.

Hopkins loaded the bases in the ninth before Zaleski struck out Adelman to get two outs. But that's when Solomon roped a two-out-single to center before getting caught in a rundown between first and second. But Backus wheeled and threw out Bolyard at the plate trying to score from first to complete the 8-3-4-2 inning-ending putout.

Matt Wiegand came on to throw a three-up, three-down ninth for the Blue Jays.

Zaleski gave up six runs (four earned) on 10 hits and two walks over five innings while Sweeney was charged with four runs on eight hits and one walk in four innings of work.

The same two teams conclude their two-game season series on Friday, when they meet in another nine-inning game in Baltimore at 3:30 p.m.