Hopkins will now face top-seeded Kean on Saturday at 10 am.
The game began at approximately 12:55 pm, but the final out wasn't recorded until nearly 5 ½ hours later as two rain delays interrupted the flow of the action throughout the afternoon.
Hopkins, which was the home team for the second straight game, took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of third before the field was then showered with rain and the contest was delayed just over 1 ½ hours.
Once play resumed, the Cardinals were first to cross home plate as junior Dave Grear knotted the game at 2-2 in the top of the fourth with a sacrifice fly to deep center field.
The two sides carried the 2-2 tie into the seventh, before JHU jumped ahead for good with a two-run seventh and a three-run eighth. In the seventh, sophomore Kyle Neverman and junior Mike Musary notched singles and graduate student Steve Bejsiuk earned a free pass with a walk to load the bags with two outs.
With the rain beginning to come down once again and increasing in intensity as the at-bat wore on, graduate student Joe Borrelli propelled Hopkins back into the lead with an RBI single to right. A wild pitch then allowed Musary to score from third and JHU pushed its advantage to 4-2.
An hour-long rain delay ensued and Catholic went on to load the base paths with just one gone in the eighth, but junior Aaron Schwartz regrouped nicely by striking out freshman Brendan Breslin and forcing a flyout to center from Grear and the Blue Jays maintained a two-run cushion.
That cushion would grow in the bottom of the eighth as sophomore Ryan Zakszeski extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a grounder through the left side, junior Aaron Borenstein singled up the middle and Musary made it three straight JHU hits with an RBI single that he punched into right field. After another Bejsiuk walk, Borrelli then earned his second RBI with a hit-by-pitch that permitted Borenstein to trot home from third, while junior Sam Wernick, who pinch ran for Musary, later scored on a wild pitch for the final count of 7-2.
Catholic again threatened in the ninth as it loaded the bases for the second straight frame, but Schwartz provided a little deja-vu with a strikeout and a fly out to center for outs number two and three and Hopkins secured the win.
The Blue Jays sent four hurlers to the mound in the contest who allowed a total of eight hits and walked four total batters on the day. Sophomore Kevin Gillen pitched the opening three frames for JHU before the first rain delay cut his day short, surrendering one run on three hits while fanning three. Junior Lucas Henneman pitched the following 2 2/3 innings, classmate Blake Platt saw a brief appearance and recording a strikeout of the only batter her faced, while Schwartz tossed the final three innings to record the win to move to 4-1 on the year and send Hopkins into the next round.
Freshman Robin Mowatt takes the loss for Catholic after pitching 6 2/3 innings and allowing four runs on nine hits. Senior Jack Mahoney and freshman Adam Schroth tossed the final 1 1/3 in relief for the Cardinals.
Musary and Borrelli paced Hopkins with three hits and two RBIs apiece, while Borenstein and Neverman each tallied two hits in the victory.
Senior L.J. Travaglia led the way for Catholic with a 2-for-5 performance at the plate and an RBI, while Mark Kalokitis also notched two hits in the loss.
Hopkins will square off against top-seeded Kean in another elimination game on Saturday at 10 am.