Blue Jays

Towson's 11-8 upset of No. 15 Drexel in one semifinal of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament Wednesday evening means the Tigers will meet No. 9 Penn State in the title game on Friday and get a chance to seize the automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament. The outcome may also have opened the door a little wider for No. 13 Johns Hopkins. The Blue Jays (8-5) are rated 17th in RPI in the latest rankings produced by the NCAA. The Dragons (11-4) are two spots ahead of Johns Hopkins but could slide down when the RPI list is updated this weekend for the NCAA selection committee.

In the aftermath of No. 13 Johns Hopkins' devastating 8-4 loss to then-No. 7 Loyola last Saturday, senior defenseman Tucker Durkin said the week of practice leading up to Friday night's contest at Army would be the most important one of the season. Coach Dave Pietramala said he has been pleased with the players' effort and attention to detail Monday and Tuesday. But one thing the Blue Jays are not paying attention to is their tournament profile. “We don't really talk about it because we can't control that,” Pietramala said Wednesday morning.

Saturday's 8-4 loss to No. 7 and reigning national champion Loyola weakened No. 13 Johns Hopkins' profile for an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament. But the program's bid for a 42nd consecutive appearance in the postseason could depend on what happens with other teams. Half of the 16-team field will be filled by teams that win their respective conference tournaments and capture the automatic qualifiers associated with those victories. If conference tournament favorites like No. 3 Notre Dame (Big East)

Johns Hopkins has dominated its Charles Street rival, winning 47 of the 50 games and the last 13 meetings. Loyola's last victory in this series was 1999, and the Greyhounds haven't won at Homewood Field since 1998. No. 7 Loyola (10-3) emphatically rebounded from a 13-12 overtime loss to then-No. 1 Denver on April 13 with a 19-11 shellacking of Hobart a week ago. Senior attackman and 2012 Tewaaraton Award finalist Mike Sawyer may be getting hot at the right time, recording four goals and two assists in each of his last two games.

The Loyola men's lacrosse team made sure overtime was not even a possibility Saturday. No. 7 Loyola took a lead with 1:29 left in the first quarter and never relinquished it en route to an 8-4 win over No. 13 Johns Hopkins before an announced 7,905 at Homewood Field in Baltimore. It was in stark contrast to last year, when the Greyhounds opened with a nearly 19-minute scoreless stretch and surrendered five goals in a 10-9 overtime setback to the Blue Jays. The victory helped the reigning national champions snap a 13-game losing streak to Johns Hopkins, capturing their first win in the series since 1999 and their first triumph at Homewood Field since 1998.

A win this Saturday against No. 13 Johns Hopkins would strengthen No. 7 Loyola's bid for an at-large spot in next month's NCAA tournament. It would also do away with this pesky matter of a 13-game losing streak to the Blue Jays. The Greyhounds haven't won a contest in this series since 1999 - a slide that includes last year's 10-9 overtime loss en route to capturing the school's first Division I national championship in any sport. Ending that skid is a weighty motivation for the players.

Debate over whether Johns Hopkins has done enough to warrant an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament continues, but the general consensus is that if the No. 13 Blue Jays (8-4) lose to No. 7 Loyola (10-3) on Saturday, the program's streak of 41 consecutive appearances in the postseason will be perilously close to ending. But if the scrutiny associated with the team's fate grows elsewhere, senior defenseman Tucker Durkin said the conversation has not reached the players. “We haven't really talked about playoffs very much,” he said.

The Orioles' 17-game extra-inning winning streak ended Wednesday afternoon, but the team's 100-game winning streak when leading at the completion of the seventh inning is still alive and well heading into the Orioles' 11-day, 11-game West Coast road trip, which begins tonight in Oakland. When that streak - which dates back to Aug. 8, 2011 - reached the century mark after Tuesday's 4-3 win over the Blue Jays, closer Jim Johnson noted that the streak coincided with the time when the Orioles began to turn things around.

Right-hander Josh Stinson yielded four homers to the Toronto Blue Jays in his Orioles debut Wednesday afternoon, the most allowed by an Orioles starter in nearly 11 months. Stinson, who was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk before Wednesday's game to fill the empty starting rotation spot, was making his second career major league start, and his first since Oct. 3. It was the first time an Orioles pitcher has allowed four homers in a game since Jason Hammel allowed four last May 30. Stinson has mostly been used as a reliever - he recorded a 0.96 ERA in six appearances, five in relief, last season with the Brewers and was 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA in 10 spring appearances with Milwaukee - but was 1-0 with a 0.77 ERA in two starts at Triple-A Norfolk this season.

Orioles reliever Pedro Strop said he's never lost his confidence even through some rough outings in the first three weeks of the season. And the Orioles' confidence in Strop to preserve a one-run lead in the eighth inning of their 4-3 win over the Blue Jays on Tuesday night was rewarded in turn. “That was huge because that was the game right there,” Strop said afterward. “I've been struggling lately and that's good to have some confidence back, and I feel even better because I gave my team the opportunity to win. Who knows?