Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Defending Centennial Conference champion Johns Hopkins University put up 10 runs in the sixth inning to out-distance Gettysburg College 18-8 in the conference baseball opener for both teams Wednesday at Kirchhoff Field.

Johns Hopkins (12-3, 1-0 CC), rated 19th in the latest national poll conducted by D3baseball.com, came into Wednesday's Centennial opener on the heels of a pair of big wins over ranked opponents Southern Maine University (9-1) and Eastern Connecticut State University (20-8). The Blue Jays jumped ahead with a pair of runs in their first at bat and added three more in the third frame to go ahead 5-1.

Gettysburg (8-7, 0-1 CC) cut the deficit to a run with three runs in its fourth at bat. Senior Craig Barrows (Whippany, N.J./Whippany Park) drew a bases-loaded walk and two more runs scored on a throwing error by the second baseman to pull the hosts to 5-4.

Johns Hopkins tacked on a run in the fifth as John Swarr belted a solo home run to left-center, the team's only extra-base hit in the game, and then the floodgates opened in the sixth. The Blue Jays sent 14 players to bat in the inning leading to seven hits and 10 runs. Chris Huisman put the finishing touches on the frame with a two-run single to put the visitors up 16-5.

After Johns Hopkins opened up a 13-run lead with two more runs in the seventh, the Bullet bats started connecting in the final two innings. Junior Chris Simard (Lexington, Mass./Belmont Hill) posted a pair of hits in the final frames and scored on freshman Brett Norton's (Millwood, N.Y./Horace Greeley) first collegiate hit, a double to left-center in the eighth. Gettysburg added three more runs in the ninth, highlighted by a RBI double by sophomore Eric Williams (Cortez, Fla./St. Stephens), to set the final score.

Jesse Sikorski finished 4-for-5 and was one of eight Blue Jays to cross home plate twice. Huisman and Matthew Bernardi each finished with three hits and Dave Kahn scored three times.

Simard finished 2-for-5 with two runs. Junior Cam Riera (Medway, Mass./Medway) also went 2-for-5 and freshman Pat Cody (Chesapeake, Va./Great Bridge) tallied hits in his two plate appearances.

Alex Eliopoulos improved to 2-0 with the win. He tossed six innings and allowed five hits, four runs (zero earned), and struck out six.

Gettysburg returns to action this Saturday, March 27, with a conference doubleheader at home against Muhlenberg College at 12:30 p.m.