NEWARK, Del. - Senior centerfielder Josh Dean hit two home runs and drove in six runs as the University of Delaware (18-14, 3-5) handed the Tigers (10-26, 5-9) a 13-4 loss in a Colonial Athletic Association game at Bob Hannah Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the Blue Hens clinched a series victory over Towson and handed the Tigers their fifth consecutive CAA loss. Delaware won the series opener with an 18-10 victory on Friday.
After banging out 25 hits in the series opener, the Blue Hens scored 13 runs on 14 hits in Saturday's win. Delaware out hit Towson by a 14-8 margin.
The Blue Hens pulled out the win by scoring three runs in the fourth inning before rallying for four runs in the fifth and four more runs in the sixth inning.
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning against junior righthander Michael Londino. With one out, junior shortstop Nick Natoli smashed a triple to centerfield. When senior rightfielder Kevin Collins hit a sacrifice fly to right, Natoli scored to give Towson a 1-0 advantage.
Making the first start of his career, freshman righthander Mike Bronakoski was betrayed by his defense in the bottom of the first as the Blue Hens scored an unearned run With one out, freshman second baseman D.J. Long drew a walk. After Bronakoski struck out senior first baseman Ryan Cuneo, junior leftfielder Pat Dameron singled to rightfield as Long advanced to third base. It looked like Bronakoski would escape the inning when Dean hit a ground ball to Natoli at shortstop. However, the sure-handed Natoli made an error as Long scored to tie the game at 1-1. Bronakoski retired the side when he got junior designated hitter Steve Ulaky to ground into a force play.
Bronakoski settled down after the first inning and struck out the side in the second inning. Londino also shut down the Tigers through four innings.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Blue Hens took a 4-1 lead. Dameron led off the inning with a single to left. Then, Dean gave Delaware a 3-1 advantage when he blasted a two-run homer to centerfield. It was his eighth home run of the season. After Ulaky struck out, junior shortstop Dave Anderson was hit by a pitch. Rightfielder Matt Greco increased the lead to 4-1 when he doubled to left center field. Freshman catcher Andrew Parker of Towson threw Greco out when he tried to steal third base. Bronakoski struck out junior catcher Todd Menchaca to end the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Blue Hens struck for four more runs. Alonso and Long led off the inning with back-to-back singles. After Cuneo was retired on a pop fly to shortstop, Dameron singled to right, driving in Alonso to give the Blue Hens a 5-1 advantage.
Bronakoski was replaced by senior lefthander Wes Shifflett after Dameron's single. Shifflett walked Dean to load the bases with one out. Ulaky's infield single drove in another run before Dameron scored on a wild pitch to make it a 7-1 lead. After an intentional walk to Anderson loaded the bases, Greco hit a pop fly to short right. Collins, the Tigers' rightfielder, picked up the ball on the first half and fired to second base to retire Anderson on a force play as another run scored. Shifflett struck out Menchaca to end the inning.
Trailing by 8-1 in the sixth inning, the Tigers tried to get back in the game. With one out, Natoli reached base on a bunt single. After a walk to Collins, Londino was relieved by sophomore lefthander Devon Pearson. Pearson retired senior first baseman Steve Yarsinsky on a fly ball for the second out. However, junior second baseman Chris Wychock followed with an RBI single to leftfield, cutting the lead to 8-2. When junior designated hitter Steve Rice followed with a run-scoring single to centerfield, the Tigers' deficit was 8-3. Pearson retired the side when freshman leftfielder Kurt Wertz grounded out to third base.
The Blue Hens added four more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to extend their lead to 12-3. Alonso led off the inning by reaching base when he was hit by a pitch. Cuneo drove in the first run of the inning with a single to left field. Dameron followed with a double, chasing Cuneo to third base. Dean upped the lead when he smashed a three-run homer over the right centerfield fence, giving Delaware a 12-3 advantage.
An RBI single by Alonso in the bottom of the seventh inning closed out the Blue Hens' scoring.
Trailing by 13-3 in the ninth inning, the Tigers tried to rally. Wertz drew a leadoff walk before freshman third baseman Mike Schmidt struck out. Parker drew another walk to put runners on first and second base. After sophomore centerfielder Ben Winter grounded into a force play, Natoli singled to centerfield driving in Wertz to make it a 13-4 game. A walk to Collins loaded the bases and brought Yarsinsky to the plate.
Yarsinsky came to the plate needing a base hit to extend his hitting streak to 24 games. However, he grounded to Alonzo at third base. Alonso stepped on third base to end the game and Yarsinsky's 23-game hitting streak.
Londino earned the win by pitching 5.1 innings, allowing three runs on three hits. He walked four batters and struck out two. Pearson picked up the save by throwing 3.2 innings of relief. He allowed one run on five hits with four walks and three strikeouts.
In his first start, Bronakoski allowed six earned runs on nine hits. He walked one batter and had a career high six strikeouts.
Dameron led the Blue Hens with four hits while Alonso went three-for-four with one RBI. In the first two games of the series, Alonso is 8-for-10. Dean went three-for-four with two homers and six runs batted in.
Natoli led the Tigers by going 3-for-5 with a triple and one RBI. Wychock was two-for-four with one RBI while Yarsinsky went 0-for-4 to end the second-longest hitting streak in school history, a streak that started on March 5 at High Point.
The Tigers will try to salvage the series finale when the teams close out their weekend series on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.
