Top seeds Johns Hopkins and Franklin & Marshall each secured wins in their Centennial Conference Tournament openers as the double-elimination portion of the championship began Thursday. Top-seeded JHU downed fifth-seeded Haverford 5-2, while second-seeded F&M defeated third-seeded Dickinson 8-7 in walk-off fashion.
The CC tournament continues Saturday in Baltimore on the campus of Johns Hopkins. Dickinson and Haverford will open the action with an elimination game at 9 a.m., followed by JHU vs. F&M at 12:30 p.m.
In Baltimore, Md., top-ranked Johns Hopkins received a stellar start from Kieren Collins and Matthew Cooper blasted a three-run homer that proved to be the difference in a 5-2 win over Haverford.
Collins tossed seven scoreless innings to improve to 5-0 on the year. Alex Shane and Shawn Steurer each notched three-hit performances for the Blue Jays. Cooper's three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning marked the 83rd homer of the year for Hopkins, tying the school and conference records for most in a single season.
Chuck Norton and Zach Crampton each notched two hits for the Fords in the loss.
In Lancaster, Pa., F&M (25-15, 12-6 CC) came out on top of a back-and-forth battle against Dickinson (22-17-1, 10-8 CC), 8-7, in Thursday afternoon's Centennial Conference Tournament game at Caplan Field.
Tied at 7-all in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Diplomats loaded the bases with to bring Evan Varga to the plate with no outs. Varga laced a base hit into the left center field gap - scoring Spencer Berson and securing the walk-off win over the Red Devils.
Varga led the Diplomats with three hits and three RBI in the win. Tommy Denlinger and AJ Desautels each tallied two hits, while five different F&M players recorded an RBI in the victory. Dan Galef (6-0) earned his sixth win of the season, striking out one of his two batters faced coming out of the bullpen in the top of the ninth. Kyle Roche pitched well in his final start at Caplan Field, striking out six and allowing four earned runs in 6.2 innings of work.
Andrew Mazzone and Nathan Bowman both hit home runs to pace the Red Devils at the plate.
Tuesday, May 2 | at #4 seed
Game 1: #5 Haverford d. #4 Swarthmore, 7-6
Thursday, May 4 | at #1 & #2 seeds
Game 2: #1 Johns Hopkins d. #5 Haverford, 5-2
Game 3: #2 Franklin & Marshall d. #3 Dickinson, 8-7
Saturday, May 6 | Baltimore, Md.
Game 4: #5 Haverford vs. #3 Dickinson, 9 a.m
Game 5: #1 Johns Hopkins 2 vs. #2 Franklin & Marshall, not before 12:30 p.m. or 30 minutes after game 3
Game 6: Winner of game 4 vs. Loser of game 5, begins 30 minutes after game 4
Sunday, May 7 | Baltimore, Md.
Game 7: Winner of game 5 vs. Winner of game 6, 12 p.m
Game 8: Championship game, if necessary, begins 30 minutes after game 7