BALTIMORE — The Johns Hopkins University baseball team is once again headed to play for the ultimate prize. The Blue Jays are on their way to another Division III World Series.
Hopkins won its NCAA super regional over the weekend, beating Wheaton, Massachusetts twice on Saturday, 9-5 and 12-2. That clinched the Jays' sixth trip to the College World Series and third in the last four full seasons. They now head to Cedar Rapids, Iowa where they are the top seed in the eight-team bracket. They face No. 8 Misericordia on Friday.
It has been an extraordinary year for Hopkins. They own a 44-5 record. Those 44 wins are tied for the most in program history. They also mash the ball. Bob Babb, in his 44th season as Hopkins head coach, has never seen anything like. That's because nobody has.
"We have set a Division III all-time record with 110 home runs. Pretty incredible," he said. "Almost all of our guys, 1-9, can hit home runs, which is a nice thing."
The Jays' 110 homers are six better than the previous record set in 1997 by College of Wooster. Left fielder Matthew Cooper leads Hop with a single-season program-record 24. That leads the nation as well. He also has the career program-record with 36 home runs.
"It has been a magical season both for the team and myself, personally," he said. "Everyone is hitting home runs. I think home runs are the most fun thing in baseball, the most fun thing in sports. So, it’s cool to see everyone else find success. It’s just been a lot of fun this year."
"I think we’ve all exceeded our expectations coming into the season," added left fielder Tripp Myers, who is a Towson native. "But, now that we’re [in the College World Series] there is an obvious goal in mind and we want to go out there and win a championship."
The Blue Jays hit the road for Cedar Rapids on Wednesday. Their game against Misericordia is set for 11:00 a.m. Eastern on Friday.
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