Justin Drechsel, Johns Hopkins
YORK, PA - Coming into tonight's game, it was good news when Hopkins out-hit its opponent. But on this night it didn't matter as the Jays struggled with the fundamentals, walking six batters, throwing a season-high four wild pitches, hitting four batters, committing two errors and having two passed balls, ultimately leading to a 6-4 loss.
The struggles began for the Jays right out of the gate, as starter Jacob Enterlin walked Cougars leadoff hitter Chris Boroch. After a Jeremy DeCotiis sac-bunt, a scary moment ensued as Enterlin plunked Kyle Lindsay in the head. Lindsay would stay in the game after taking a moment to regain his bearings.
With two on and one out, Alec Iurato knocked a single through the right side and into the outfield, scoring Boroch from second and putting the Cougars on the board, 1-0. With two on, D.J. Navoczynski's grounder bounced off Craig Hoelzer's glove at second and trickled into right, scoring Lindsay from second.
Hopkins would start the third out hot, as Mitch Weaver led the inning off with a single to right. Conor Reynolds follow with a single to left, before Brian Lin dropped down a nice bunt single. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Weaver would score on a Colin McCarthy hit ball to the shortstop, who stepped on second to get Lin before McCarthy beat the throw at first.
The Jays would add a run in the fourth, as Chris Casey, who got on base with a single to center, came around to score on a Weaver single down the left field line, knotting the game up at two.
The fifth inning started out with another hits batman for Enterlin, putting the leadoff man on base. After a sac-bunt pushed Miles Westrich to second, he took third on a wild pitch before scoring on a fielder's choice two batters later.
Lin started things out with a single to left in the bottom-half of the inning. McCarthy then ripped a double into left-center, putting two on for Hoelzer. Lin would score on a Hoelzer groundout to short, which tied the game at three.
The top of the sixth was one of the strangest innings in baseball, as Misericordia added a run without making contact on the ball. Iurato would walk to start the inning, take second on a wild pitch, advance to third on a drop-third strike and score on a wild pitch, giving the Cougars a 4-3 lead.
Mike Smith began the bottom-half of the sixth with a hit to the shortstop and advanced to second on an errant throw to first. Thomas Mee then bunted Smith to third. With the infield pulled in, Weaver blooped his career-high third hit into shallow right field, scoring Smith and tying the game at four, the third tie of the game. This was the first time this season the Jays played in a game with three separate ties.
The Cougars broke the tie in the seventh as Boroch got beaned with one out to a man on base. After a walk and a fielder's choice, Boroch found himself on third before scoring on the Jays' second passed ball of the game. One batter later, with runners on second and third, Navoczynski knocked a single through the left side, scoring the Cougars' sixth and final run of the game.
Hopkins is scheduled to play tomorrow at 1:15 pm against Catholic.