WESTMINSTER, Md. - McDaniel battled Johns Hopkins, who is ranked fourth nationally, in a tightly contested matchup until the Blue Jays pulled away late for the win. After a scoreless first four innings, Hopkins used a pair of home runs from catcher Sam Frank to build a 10-run lead, and their pitcher was able to control the Green Terror offense throughout the nine inning game.

Sophomore Ryan Kelly got the start for McDaniel (16-15, 4-8 CC) and locked up the Blue Jays (30-3, 11-1 CC) through the first four innings including six strikeouts. Johns Hokpins went with Charles Monterrosa, and he delivered with 10 strikeouts over seven innings. 

Kelly stepped up to the mound in the top half of the first inning to face the potent Blue Jays offense. He struck out all three batters, and faced just ten batters in the first three innings including two more strikeouts in the third. McDaniel had a chance to score in the top half of the first inning with singles from Jake Smith and Joey Hubinger, but left both men on and were held in check over the first three innings as well.

The Green Terror defense backed up Kelly with great diving catches by Smith and Connor Uhrig to keep the Blue Jays off the board. In the fifth inning, Johns Hopkins broke the deadlock with a two-run homer to left field by Sam Frank. Frank followed that up with another home run in the sixth inning. 

The Blue Jays added seven more runs to lead by 10, and their pitching staff was able to keep McDaniel from putting up a run. 

McDaniel returns to action on Saturday at Swarthmore. The first game of the double header is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.