Hopkins Homers Six Times in 24-5 Win Over Baseball
BALTIMORE, Md. - The Stevenson University baseball hit four home runs, but Johns Hokins hit six to set a new Centennial Conference single-game record as the Blue Jays totaled 25 runs on 27 hits en route to a 24-5 victory over the Mustangs Monday afternoon at home.
The Blue Jays (22-13), who scored a run in seven of their eight offensive innings, have hit 62 home runs this season, eight short of the team's conference record set in 2005. Hopkins also fell just two hits shy of tying the Centennial Conference's single-game hit record.
Stevenson (17-25) jumped out to a 2-0 lead just two batters into the game when sophomore Kyle Van Beek (Bel Air/John Carroll) hit his first of the season and second of his career followed by the second of the year from sophomore Dustin Tarlow (Finksburg/Westminster).
However, the Blue Jays would score six in the bottom of the first, highlighted by a three-run homer from Brian Youchak, his only hit of the game.
Lee Bolyard followed with his 10th home run on the season and his first career grand slam in the bottom of the second to increase the lead to 10-2 after two before an RBI-single by Todd Emr in the third.
Junior George Papuchis (Damascus/Good Counsel) followed with his third home run of the season, a solo shot to right in the fourth, before Hopkins answered with a two-run shot by Jesse Sikorski that scored Bolyard to give the Blue Jays a 13-3 advantage.
Neither team would score in the fifth before Hopkins exploded for six more runs in the sixth, ironically, none of which came on home runs.
Junior Dan Leonard (Cambridge/South Dorchester) hit his first career home run as a Mustang with a two-run shot in the seventh before Dave Garber, who entered the game as a pinch hitter in the sixth, hit a solo home run in the seventh and Zachary Small had a solo homer in the eighth.
A total of 13 players had a hit for the Blue Jays, led by Small who was 4-for-6 with two RBIs, while seven different Mustangs each had one hit.
Five Blue Jay pitchers combined to hold Stevenson to five runs on seven hits and totaling seven strikeouts. Matt Wiegand earned his third win after allowing three runs and three hits over five innings and striking out four.
Freshman Joe Robak (Baltimore/Calvert Hall) suffered his second lost in three starts this season after surrendering 10 runs on 10 hits over 2.0 innings.
Stevenson hosts Franklin & Marshall in its final home game of the season on Tuesday at Bachmand Sports Complex in Glen Burnie. First pitch is at 6:00 p.m.
