May 5, 2002

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - Senior John Krivonak (Canfield, OH/Canfield) drove in senior Mike DePalma (Norwalk, CT/Norwalk) with a bloop single in the top of the 10th inning for the game-winning run as Johns Hopkins edged Muhlenberg, 5-4, for the Centennial Conference Baseball Championship this afternoon in Baltimore. The Blue Jays (34-6) won their fifth Centennial Championship and receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Regional Tournament. The Mules fell to 23-17 with the loss.

DePalma led off the 10th with a sharp single up the middle. Sophomore Craig Cetta (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) followed with a bunt single before both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt from junior Joe Urban (Nanticoke, PA/Bishop Hoban). Krivonak then drove in DePalma as his single dropped into shallow center in front of center fielder Josh Carter (Mt. Vernon, NY/Rye Country Day).

The Mules went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 10th as sophomore Sven Stafford (Evanston, IL/Evanston) recorded two groundouts and a strikeout to end the game. Stafford pitched 2.2 scoreless innings of relief to improve to 3-0 on the year. He allowed just two hits while striking out four. Junior Kevin Komeshok (Passaic, NJ/DePaul Catholic) took the loss in relief for Muhlenberg to fall to 3-3 for the season.

After five scoreless frames, the Blue Jays got on the board in the top of the sixth as sophomore Carl Ippolito (Ewing, NJ/Pennington School) was hit by a pitch and scored two batters later when DePalma reached on a Muhlenberg error. Senior Ben Taylor (Pawling, NY/Trinity-Pawling), who singled to right field, later scored on a double steal with Cetta on first.

JHU added a run in the top of the seventh as Urban belted his fifth home run of the year, a solo shot to left field, to give Hopkins a 3-0 lead. The Mules came back in the bottom of the inning with three runs to tie the score. Senior Mike Morris (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central) and junior Steve Rohn (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth) reached on back-to-back singles and sophomore catcher Adam Sadler (Telford, PA/Christopher Dock) drilled a 1-1 pitch over the wall in right center.

Hopkins tallied a run in the top of the eighth inning as DePalma reached on a fielder's choice and scored a batter later when the Mules committed two errors on the same play. Muhlenberg would come back again in the bottom of the inning to tie the score. Morris and Rohn singled to lead off the inning, and after a hit batsman, Sadler drove in Morris with a single. Sadler was 3-for-5 on the day and drove in all four of Muhlenberg's runs.

Both starting pitchers performed well on the afternoon. Sophomore Jeremy Brown (Baltimore, MD/McDonogh School) threw 6.2 innings for Hopkins allowing three runs and six hits while striking out four. Freshman Aaron Regensburg (Pottstown, PA/Pottstown) went 8.1 innings for Muhlenberg and allowed just one earned run on eight hits.

The Blue Jays, who were also Centennial Champions during the 1994, 1997, 1998, and 2001, return to action Tuesday as JHU travels to York College for a 3:30 p.m. contest originally scheduled for April 25. Hopkins will then await the seedings for the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament, which are to be decided on Sunday, May 12.

Centennial Conference Championship

Line Score 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10, R H E
Johns Hopkins (34-6) 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 1, 5 11 0
Muhlenberg (23-17) 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0, 4 9 5

Battery
Johns Hopkins - Brown, Lynch (7), Stafford (8) and Prevas
Muhlenberg - Regensburg, Komeshok (9) and Sadler

Extra-Base Hits
HR - Urban (JHU), Sadler (MC).