WASHINGTON, D.C. - Wednesday night was a historic one for the Catholic University baseball program. The 13th-ranked Cardinals played their first-ever game under the lights at Talbot Field thanks to a generous donation from the Jones family. 

Juan Jones, his wife Lisa, and his son Christian ('20) were joined on the field by Catholic University President Dr. Peter Kilpatrick, and Catholic University Vice President for Student Affairs, Dr. Judi Biggs Garbuio for a pre-game ceremony dedicating the lights. 

On the field, the sixth-ranked Blue Jays got the best of the 13th-ranked Cardinals in a midweek non-conference matchup, winning 12-3 in a game that featured 50 different players and 15 different pitchers. Catholic fell to 15-3 on the season while Johns Hopkins improved to 18-2. 

Catholic totaled five hits on the night with three of them going for extra bases. Ben Nardi cracked his fifth home run of the year, just clearing the wall and the outstretched glove of Johns Hopkins' right fielder Tripp Myers. Mitchel Johnson and Zach Burton each added a double for the Cardinals. 

Isaiah Winikur and Charles Monterrosa each homered in the first inning for JHU as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Nardi answered with a solo shot in the bottom of the inning. The Blue Jays scored a pair of unearned runs in the second, forcing starter Jake Kenney from the game as the Cardinals brought on left-hander Lucky Perrotto. Perrotto was stellar for Catholic, pitching 4.2 scoreless innings with five strikeouts. 

Trailing 6-1, Catholic got one back in the bottom of the sixth as Perrotto continued to stave off the Hopkins lineup. Joe Marini reached on a fielder's choice and then scored on a double to right field off the bat of Johnson. However, the Blue Jays would score five in the top of the seventh to make the comeback efforts tough for Catholic. 

The Cardinals scored their third run in the bottom of the seventh after a pinch-hit single from Steve Thomas started things off. Burton doubled down the line in left and a Dante Pozzi groundout brought Thomas in to score. 

Patrick Durkan worked a scoreless inning for Catholic while Nardi made it 20 straight games with a hit. 

Catholic will head to New Jersey for a Landmark Conference series with Drew this weekend.