BALTIMORE – The No. 2 seed Haverford College baseball lost to top-seed and No. 1-ranked Johns Hopkins University, 13-6, Sunday afternoon at Homewood Field in the Centennial Conference championship game.
Hopkins (37-3) scored 13 runs on 15 hits and took advantage of three Haverford (24-16) errors to claim its fourth straight conference title and 11th overall. The Blue Jays held a 3-1 lead after two innings, but exploded for eight runs in the fourth and fifth innings.
Hopkins once again took an early first inning lead. Chris Huisman walked and Brian Youchak singled to put runners on first and second with one out. Dave Kahn followed with a line drive to left field that hit off a leaping Matt Liscovitz's glove and landed over the fence for a three-run home run.
The first three Haverford batters reached base to start the second. Bobby Bailey then delivered a single through the right side that scored Jeff Butera. The Fords left the bases loaded as Blue Jays starter Brian Harbeck (7-0) retired the next three batters.
Harbeck escaped another jam in the third after allowing singles to Jake Chaplin and Charlie Carluccio he got Butera to fly out and induced an inning-ending double play ball.
Hopkins broke the game wide open with a five-run fourth and a three-run fifth. Fords starter Bryan Henrick (2-4) fell victim to a few seeing-eye singles in the fourth which led to three runs. Mike Bozzi relieved Henrick with the bases loaded and no outs. Bozzi cut off a run at the plate on a comebacker to the mound for the first out. James Teta followed with a double to right center that scored one run. Joe Borelli tried to score from second, but was thrown out at the plate on a perfect relay throw by Carluccio from shallow center field. After two more runs came home, Bozzi was lifted for Adam Lewis who got the third out.
Back-to-back home runs by Jesse Sikorski and John Swarr pushed Hopkins lead to 11-1 in the fifth. The Blue Jays plated single runs in both the sixth and seventh.
Harbeck allowed just two runs in 7.0 innings while striking out three to earn the win. Henrick was charged with six earned in 3.0 innings. Lewis tossed 3.0 innings in relief in his final appearance.
In the top of the ninth, Jake Alter drew a leadoff walk and Avi Wolfman-Arent and Jake Kaden followed by ripping singles in their final collegiate at bats. Louis DeRosa doubled off the wall in right center to plate two runs and Chaplin came through with a single to left to drive in two more runs. Chase Kennedy doubled with two outs in the eighth to finish his last game 1-for-2.
Haverford's 24 wins are the third-most in a single season. The Fords also reached the 20-win plateau for the sixth time in the last seven seasons. Haverford will be primed for another run at the conference title in 2011 as they return seven starters, four starting pitchers and a number of key relievers.