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YORK, Pa. (Baseball) – The No. 2 Alvernia Crusaders defeated the No. 3 Johns Hopkins Blue Jays, 8-1, Saturday afternoon to advance to the NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Region Championship Round against Salisbury. The teams will meet at 3:10 p.m. today, with an “if necessary” game scheduled on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Johns Hopkins (29-13-1) scored in the bottom of the first inning on a throwing error by the catcher to take a 1-0 lead. Brian Lin stole third base, and then advanced home after the ball made it to left field on the throw.

The Blue Jays threatened again in the bottom of the second with bases loaded and two outs, but Alvernia got out of the jam to keep the deficit at 1-0.

The Crusaders (35-13) scored one run on two hits in the top of the third. Johns Hopkins threw a runner out at the plate to end the inning and keep the game tied at 1-1.

Alvernia’s Dan George hit a two-run home run over the 38-foot wall in the top of the fourth inning. The Crusaders added another run in the fifth inning for a 4-1 lead.

The Crusaders’ Ben Sawyer hit an RBI triple in the seventh inning. Then scored on a wild pitch with bases loaded to give Alvernia a 6-1 lead.

Alvernia added two more runs in the top of the ninth inning for its eventual 8-1 victory.

Sawyer finished the game going 3-for-5 with a triple, two RBIs and two runs scored. Chris Burns finished the game going 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored.

Alvernia will now face No. 4 Salisbury in the championship round at 3:10 p.m. The Crusaders will have to beat the Seagulls twice in order to be crowned champions and move to the Division III Baseball Championship. The “if necessary” game is set for Sunday at 1 p.m.