Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Sophomore Ryan Taylor retired the final 25 batters he faced, but a three-run first inning was enough for Johns Hopkins to beat Gettysburg 3-0 in a Centennial Conference baseball game Friday afternoon at a sunny, windy Kirchhoff Field.

One day after the two teams fought through an offensive explosion that featured 30 hits and lasted over three hours in Baltimore, Friday's game was the polar opposite. Taylor and Hopkins starter Alex Eliopoulos combined to allow just seven hits in a contest that wrapped up just under two hours.

Eliopoulos (5-2) finished with a three-hitter, allowing three singles and four walks while striking out 10. Of his 17 outs that were put into play, 14 were groundouts. Taylor (3-4) registered yet another outstanding outing, finishing with a four-hitter, striking out nine and walking none.

After hitting a walk-off single in the Blue Jays' 10-9 win on Thursday, Kyle Neverman got things started for Johns Hopkins (16-10, 9-3 CC) with one out in the first when he reached on a pop-out to second that was lost in the sun. Two batters later Jesse Sikorski drilled a double into the right-center gap just beyond diving centerfielder Patrick O'Grady to score Neverman. Ryan Zakszeski and Jeff Lynch followed up with back-to-back RBI-singles through the left side before Taylor got out of it when he caught Anthony Venditti looking at a called third strike, setting off his perfect stretch.

Taylor fanned the side in the second and set Venditti down looking again in the fourth as he racked up seven strikeouts over the first four innings. He was the beneficiary of an outstanding defensive play in the seventh, when leftfielder Drew Roy made a diving catch running into foul ground to end the inning. Roy's grab was the start of six consecutive fly-ball outs, and Taylor capped his performance by freezing Sikorski on a called third strike to end the ninth.

Taylor has now thrown four straight nine-inning complete games and is 2-2 with a 1.50 ERA, 41 strikeouts, and six walks in 36 innings during the stretch, which has consisted entirely of Centennial Conference competition.

The Bullets (9-18, 3-9 CC) had a pair of scoring opportunities against Eliopoulos early on but were unable to capitalize. A pair of walks put runners on first and second with two outs in the second but Eliopoulos got out of it with a strikeout. Gettysburg also had runners at second and third with one out in the third following a hit batsman, a walk, and a groundout, but Eliopoulos escaped again with another K.

Roy got the Bullets first hit with an infield single leading off the fifth, but was picked off on the next at-bat when senior Cory Jackmuff lined into a 4-3 double play. Gettysburg had a runner reach second in both the sixth and seventh but Eliopoulos stranded both and retired his final seven batters.

Gettysburg resumes its schedule on Sunday, when it visits Muhlenberg College for a Centennial Conference doubleheader starting at 12:30 p.m. The twinbill was originally scheduled for Saturday but was pushed back a day due to impending inclement weather.