Release courtesy of Johns Hopkins Athletic Communications

Score:  #1 Johns Hopkins-23, Penn State Altoona-9
Records:  JHU (40-4), PSU Altoona (20-26)
 
Pitching Decision:  W: Ryan Anderson (4-1), L:  Eli Wiles (3-9)
 
The Short Story:  The top-ranked Johns Hopkins baseball team broke open a tight game with an eight-run third inning and the Blue Jays hit eight home runs in a 23-9 win over Penn State Altoona in the opening game of the 2023 NCAA Division III Tournament at Babb Field early Friday afternoon.
 
How it Happened
• After the Lions scratched across single runs in the first and second innings to grab an early 2-1 lead, the Blue Jays exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the third to turn the one-run deficit into a 9-2 lead that was never seriously threatened.
• Hopkins plated all eight runs in the third with two outs.  A two-run Shawn Steuerer home run was followed by a solo shot from Sam Frank as the Blue Jays quickly grabbed a 4-2 lead.  A Jimmy Stevens RBI-single, a three-run Dylan Whitney home run and a run-scoring double from Dillon Souvignier accounted for the final five runs in the inning.
• The Lions answered the eight-spot with three runs in the top of the fourth to trim the deficit to 9-5.  Junior Jake Hillard's three-run, two-out home run plated the three runs for the Lions, who got two runners on via a hit and an error to set up Hillard's blast.
• The Blue Jays would add crooked numbers in the fourth (2), fifth (4) and sixth (2) innings to blow the game open.  Steuerer and Matthew Cooper hit solo home runs in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively, and Caleb Cyr added two-run home runs in both of those innings.  Steuerer added a run-scoring single in the sixth and Souvignier added a sacrifice fly in that inning as well as Hopkins pushed the lead to 17-8 after six.
• After Johnathan Rauch's run-scoring single for the Lions in the top of the eighth made it 17-9, the Blue Jays closed out the scoring with a five-run eighth of their own.  Johns Hopkins collected four hits in the inning with Steuerer and Whitney nothcing run-scoring singles.
 
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• Johns Hopkins tied the NCAA Division III Tournament record with eight home runs in the victory.  This is the third time a team has hit eight home runs in an NCAA game.
• The Blue Jays set program NCAA Tournament records for runs (23) and RBIs (22) and tied the record for hits (22).
• Steuerer was 4-for-6 with five RBIs, while Souvignier, Whitney and Cyr all collected three hits on the day.  Cyr and Steuerer tied the JHU single-game tournament record with their two home runs in the victory.
• All nine Blue Jay starters collected at least one hit and seven players had multi-hit games.
 
Inside the Box Score – Penn State Altoona
• Hillard was 3-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored in the leadoff spot for the Lions.
• Rauch and Garrett Alauzen collected three hits apiece.  The top four batters in the lineup went 10-of-18 with seven RBIs and five runs scored for Altoona.
 
Notes of Interest
• Johns Hopkins improves to 40-4 on the year.  This is the fourth, 40-win season in school history and first since 2010.
• JHU improves to 48-42 all-time in NCAA Regional action.  The Jays are 8-1 in their last nine regional games dating back to 2019.
• The 23 runs today mark the fifth time this season that JHU has scored 20 or more runs.
 
Up Next
• Johns Hopkins will play the winner of the Randolph-Macon-St. John Fisher game on Saturday, May 20 (12:30 pm).  Penn State Altoona will play the loser of that game in an elimination game at 11 am.