Honor Roll Games of the Week: Mar. 22 – Mar. 28

March 22, 2019

Brown Bears vs Yale Bulldogs – 3 Game Series Begins Saturday @ 11:30am

Yale was voted the favorite to win their third straight Ivy League championship in the 2019 Ivy League Baseball Preseason Media Poll. After opening the season with a challenging road trip – including games against New Mexico St., Florida, and UCF – Yale enters conference play winners of their last two games.

The Bulldogs return 3 Honor Roll alumni who received All-Ivy honors last season – OF/LHP Teddy Hague,  1B/RHP Benny Wanger and IF Simon Whiteman. Wanger made First-Team All-Ivy as a pitcher and Second Team All-Ivy as a hitter, and he’s picked up right where he left off in 2018. He was named Conference Player of the Week for the first week of the season after going 7 for 13 with 1 HR, 3 RBIs and earning a save. Whiteman was named captain prior to the season and currently leads the team in hits, 2B and is tied with fellow Honor Roll Alumni 1B/RHP Griffin Dey for the team lead in runs scored. Dey has also had an impressive start to his 2019 campaign, leading the team in HRs, RBIs and OBP.

Brown enters the series after winning the final game of their series against fellow Honor Roll school Fairfield, a 9-8 comeback victory last Sunday. That game featured another strong outing from Honor Roll alumni RHP JJ Sliepka, who tossed 1.2 scoreless innings to shut down the Stags’ offense. He’s yet to allow a run in his 4 appearances this season. The game was started by freshman Honor Roll alumni RHP Ryan Kuntz, who tossed 4.2 innings in his first collegiate start and left the game with a lead. Kuntz has now appeared in 7 games as a freshman, picking up his first career save in a win over Presbyterian on March 3rd.

At the plate, Honor Roll alumni INF Rich Ciufo has now started 87 straight games for the Bears dating back to his freshman season. After improving as a sophomore in 2018, Ciufo leads the team in HRs and SBs and is second in RBIs this year. He picked up another RBI on a 3rd inning double in the win over Fairfield.

Our prediction – Yale shows why they were voted the favorite to win the conference in 2019, sweeping Brown in the weekend series.

Catholic Cardinals @ Johns Hopkins Blue Jays – Tuesday @ 3:30pm

Johns Hopkins was ranked #9 nationally in the most recent d3baseball.com/NCBWA Top 25 Poll. The Blue Jays are 12-4 on the season, including a recent 2-1 win against fellow Honor Roll program Denison University. Honor Roll alumni RHP Jack Bunting continued his incredible start to the 2019 season, throwing a complete game and striking out 11 while limiting the Big Red to 5 hits. Bunting is now 4-0 on the season with a 1.07 ERA over 25.1 innings pitched. Fellow Honor Roll alumni and RHP Preston Betz has also been a key part of the rotation for Johns Hopkins, posting a 2.96 ERA across his first 4 starts.

Offensively, the Blue Jays have been led by Honor Roll alumni INF Mike Eberle, who was an All-Centennial Conference Honorable Mention for the 2018 season. Eberle is currently riding a 6-game hitting streak and leads the team in hits, RBIs and runs scored. Johns Hopkins has also received a strong contribution from Honor Roll alumni INF Adam Kohl, who is batting .304 to start off his junior year.

Catholic has won 8 of their last 9 games and will play a 3-game series against Susquehanna before facing Johns Hopkins on Tuesday. Honor Roll alumni 1B/LHP Nolan Lundholm has been a standout performer at the plate and on the mound for the Cardinals. Through the first month of the season, Lundholm is having a career year at the plate, batting .379 and posting a .550 OBP. He’s also made 3 appearances out of the bullpen, allowing 2 runs over 6 innings with 8 strikeouts.

Honor Roll alumni RHP Eric Moore and OF Connor Sullivan have also been solid contributors for Catholic this year. Moore has picked up a win and save in 6 appearances in 2019 and enters the weekend with a career 2.02 ERA. Sullivan had driven in 6 runs in 12 games to go along with a career-best .438 OBP.

Our prediction – Johns Hopkins continues their hot start to the season and picks up the win against Catholic.