Johns Hopkins may have lost to Syracuse in the NCAA Division I men?s lacrosse finals, but the Blue Jays still have a chance to be called national champions.
Jonas Fester took care of that.
Fester, a senior shortstop, hit a one-hit game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning as Hopkins advanced to the championship round of the Division III baseball College World Series with a 12-11 win over the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Monday in Appleton, Wisc. The Blue Jays (40-8), who advanced through the loser?s bracket, must now defeat Trinity College (44-0) twice today in order to claim the program?s first national title. The finals are set for noon today at Fox Cities Stadium.
Trinity advanced to the championship game with an 8-5 win Sunday over Hopkins. In that game, the Blue Jays fell behind 3-0 after the first inning before rallying to pull within 6-5 in the top of the eighth. But, Trinity put the game away by scoring twice in the bottom of the eighth. Trinity needs to only win once to win the national title.
“We?re one of only two teams playing on the last day of the season and that was our goal all along,” said Hopkins coach Bob Babb, who is in his 29th year at the helm. “We?re feeling confident after the way we came back today. Now, the only approach we have to take is to win a double-header.”
Against UW-Whitewater, Hopkins led 9-6 after six innings before the Warhawks (42-10) responded by scoring three runs in the top of the seventh. But in the bottom of the inning, Fester gave Hopkins an 11-9 lead with a two-run single. The Warhawks then tied the game at 11 in the top of the eighth before the Blue Jays rallied again to win it in the ninth.
Fester went 5-for-6 with three RBI and three runs scored to lead Hopkins. Making his performance even more special for him is that it came in a season in which he missed six weeks due to a knee injury and he was uncertain whether he would be able to play again this year.
“This is such a great feeling,” Fester said. “All I wanted to do was be able to come back and contribute in some way. The guys on this team have busted their butts the last two months to get us here and I?m just glad I could be a part of it.”
Also for Hopkins, sophomore right fielder Brian Youchak – who missed all of last season with a toe injury, went 2-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. Pitcher Matt Wiegand improved to 3-0 as he picked up the win after allowing no runs and striking out three in 1.1 innings of work.
“We?re feeling pretty good right now,” Fester said. “We know Trinity is a good team but we?re going to try to put everything together again and try to bring home a national title to Johns Hopkins.”
