Baseball Loses to Hopkins in Key League Contest

In a battle of the top two teams in the FAA, league-leader Hopkins topped Brunswick on Tuesday, 5-3. The loss drops the Bruins to 8-3 FAA record (10-5 overall), as the 12-1 Hilltoppers clinched the regular-season title with one game remaining (10-1 FAA).

 

For the game, Hopkins scored all five runs on extra-base hits.

 

The visitors took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning with an RBI triple followed by an RBI double off Brunswick starter Jake Hyde with no outs. After a walk, Hyde escaped further damage with a fly-out and a 6-4-3 double-play.

 

A solo homer by Hopkins in the fourth inning made it a 3-0 contest.

 

In the home half of the fourth, Brunswick manufactured a run. Following a leadoff single by Jack Griffin, Jack Mathews pushed Griffin to second base with a sacrifice bunt. Griffin reached third on a wild pitch, before Nick Giannuzzi’s infield ground-out drove in Griffin.

 

Hopkins opened the fifth inning with three consecutive hits. Starting with consecutive singles, a double to left off Hyde drove in two runs, as the Hilltoppers built a 5-1 lead.

 

Brunswick made it a 5-2 contest in the bottom of the fifth, plating one run on a sacrifice-fly by Luke Fisher.

 

The Bruins mounted a two-out rally in the seventh inning. A solo home-run to left field by Leo Socci, his first as a Bruin, started the rally, as back-to-back singles by Aidan Redahan and Fisher brought the go-ahead run to the plate. In the 5-3 game, Jake Hyde roped line drive to shallow center that was snagged on a diving catch by the Hilltoppers’ reserve centerfielder to end the game. If that ball was misplayed, both runs and possibly Hyde would have scored.

 

With the Hilltoppers securing first place in the FAA, Brunswick and Hamden Hall are tied for second with matching 8-3 records with one game left to play on Wednesday, May 8. The Bruins host Greens Farms in the season finale, as Hamden Hall travels to St. Luke’s. The top two teams will earn a bye to the semifinals in the upcoming FAA Tournament.

 

Hyde (2-1) lasted four innings, allowing five earned runs while striking-out five. Socci tossed three innings of scoreless relief and whiffed four batters.

 

 

                        1 2 3 4 5 6 7    R H E

HOPKINs          0 0 2 1 2 0 0    5 9 2

BRUINS            0 0 0 1 1 0 1    3 7 1