BALTIMORE, Md. - Catholic left the yard four times, including twice in the eighth inning, in a 16-10 victory over No. 8 Johns Hopkins on Wednesday afternoon at Babb Field. With a win over No. 4 Salisbury last Wednesday, the Cardinals have now defeated a pair of program's ranked inside the D3baseball top 10 in a week's time.
Tied 10-10 going into the eighth inning, Catholic needed a spark with the powerful lineup of Johns Hopkins posting 10 runs across the previous four innings. Graduate first baseman
Zach Burton provided just that. With two on and one away in the inning, Burton lined the first pitch he saw over the fence in right-center field to put the Cardinals back ahead 13-10. After a walk, a pitching change, another walk, and a ground out,
Sammy Burman added the final bit of insurance, smacking another three-run shot for the Cardinals. Burman's big fly put the Cardinals ahead by six with the ball in senior
Danny Fitzgerald's hand.
A traditional starter, Fitzgerald made another appearance out of the bullpen as he did against Salisbury last Wednesday. The senior right-hander tossed the final two innings, allowing a pair of hits, but inducing a double play in each inning to finish off the victory.
Burton and Burman weren't the only ones to homer on Wednesday as
Jesse Lacefield and
Jack Elwell also joined the party in a game that saw seven long balls. Lacefield opened up the scoring in the top of the second inning, lining a no-doubter over the fence in right. The home run was his fifth of the season and puts him in a three-way tie for second on the team with
Mitchel Johnson and
Logan Eilbacher.
In the fourth inning, still leading 1-0, Catholic put six runs on the board to really put the heat on the Blue Jays. After loading the bases with nobody out, Catholic was one strike away from failing to cause any damage, but Elwell answered the bell, turning on a two-strike offering and crushing his first career grand slam to put the Cardinals ahead by five. A throwing error would allow
Derek Zelesnick to score later in the inning after he reached with a single to center.
Steve Thomas would drive in
Matt Perlin with a double to push the lead to 7-0.
The Blue Jays started to get the feel for Catholic starter
Danny Prior in the bottom of the fourth after three scoreless innings, pushing three runs across with a Jacob Harris RBI single and a Seif Ingram two-run homer. Hopkins would add two more off of Prior in the fifth with Alex Shane's first homer of the day, a two-run shot to left center.
Catholic responded with three much needed runs in the sixth thanks to a bases-loaded walk drawn by Perlin, a Thomas fielder's choice that scored Elwell, and a Johnson sacrifice fly that scored Zelesnick. However, Catholic's 10-5 lead quickly turned into a 10-9 advantage as the Blue Jays put four runs on the board in the bottom of the sixth against
Xander Douglas. Shawn Steurer drove in two with a double and Shane left Babb Field for the second time to pull the game within a run. Ingram would add the RBI single that tied the game in the bottom of the seventh against
Lucky Perrotto before Catholic's big eighth inning secured a see-saw victory.
Thomas, Burton, Burman, and Zelesnick each had multiple hits in the victory with Thomas, Burton, Burman, and Elwell driving in multiple runs. Burton's sixth homer of the year gives him a new career-high and gives him 17 for his career. Burton leads the Cardinals with 19 extra-base hits and is second on the team with 28 RBI. Burman now has seven hits, including a double and two home runs, and eight RBI in his last three games.
Catholic will travel to Bethlehem, Pa. for a crucial three-game set with Moravian this weekend.
