NEWARK, Del. - Senior righthander Austin Hurd won his second consecutive start by pitching 6.1 innings of five-hit baseball as the Tigers (11-26, 6-9) bounced back from back-to-back losses by handing the University of Delaware (18-15, 3-6) an 8-2 Colonial Athletic Association loss in the final game of their three-game weekend series at Bob Hannah Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Hurd, who pitched the Tigers to a 6-5 win at George Washington University five days ago, held the hard-hitting Blue Hens to one run on five hits in 6.1 innings of work on Sunday. Delaware had scored 31 runs on 39 hits in the first two games of the weekend series, beating the Tigers by 18-10 on Friday and 13-4 on Saturday.
Junior righthander Drew Permison relieved Hurd with one out in the seventh inning and finished off the victory by pitching 2.2 innings of one-hit relief as the Tigers snapped their five-game CAA losing streak.
In the top of the first inning, the Tigers gave Hurd a 3-0 lead before he ever threw a pitch. Sophomore centerfielder Ben Winter led off the game with a single to rightfield. When junior shortstop Nick Natoli grounded back to the mound, Winter advanced to second base. After senior rightfielder Kevin Collins was retired on a popup to shortstop, senior first baseman Steve Yarsinsky kept the inning alive with an infield single to shortstop.
With runners on first and third and two outs, junior second baseman Chris Wychock clouted a double to left field driving in two runs to give the Tigers a 2-0 advantage. Wychock advanced to third base on a throw to home plate as the Blue Hens tried to nail Yarsinsky, who was trying to score from first base. Moments later, Wychock scored on a passed ball by junior catcher Aaron Mascoe to give Towson a 3-0 advantage.
After Hurd shut out Delaware in the bottom of the first inning, the Tigers padded their lead in the second. Junior third baseman Austin Harclerode led off with a double to rightcenterfield. Freshman catcher Andrew Parker followed with a double to right, scoring Harclerode with the Tigers' fourth run. With one out, an infield single by Winter moved Parker to third base. When Natoli grounded out to second base, Parker scored to give Towson a 5-0 advantage. Eric Buckland worked out of the inning when he retired Collins on a fly ball to centerfield.
In the bottom of the third inning, Delaware got on the scoreboard. With one out, freshman second baseman D.J. Long singled up the middle. After senior first baseman Ryan Cuneo was retired on a fly ball to right, junior leftfielder Pat Dameron drew a walk, putting two runners on base. Rightfielder Hank Yates drove in the Blue Hens' first run with a single to centerfield. That brought senior centerfielder Josh Dean to the plate. Dean had led the Blue Hens to their win on Saturday with three hits and six runs batted in. However, Hurd pitched out of the jam when he retired Dean on a ground ball to third base.
With their lead trimmed to 5-1 in the fourth inning, the Tigers staged another rally. Harclerode led off the inning when he blasted a long triple to rightcenter field. Parker drove in Harclerode to give the Tigers a 6-1 lead.
In the fifth inning, the Tigers extended their lead to 8-1. Yarsinsky opened the inning by reaching on an error. Then, Wychock blasted his ninth home run of the season over the leftfield fence to give Towson its 8-1 lead.
After running into trouble in the third inning, Hurd breezed through the next two frames and retired eight batters in a row at one point. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Yates singled to left centerfield with one out, ending that streak. But, Hurd got Dean to ground into an inning-ending double play to extinguish any comeback hopes that the Blue Hens might have.
With one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, junior designated hitter Steve Ulaky singled and pinch hitter Chris Brannigan drew a walk. At that point, Hurd was relieved by Permison. Permison came out of the bullpen to retire Alonso on a fly ball to centerfield. Then he ended the rally by striking out Long.
Permison shut down the Blue Hens until the bottom of the ninth inning when Delaware added a run. Catcher Dave Augebrand lined a two-out double to left centerfield, driving in a run to cut the Tigers' lead to 8-2. However, Permison nailed down the win by retiring Alonso on a pop up to first base.
Hurd and Permison combined to limit the Blue Hens to two runs on seven hits, including only one extra base hit. They walked three and struck out four.
They also held Alonso, the leading hitter in the CAA, without a hit in five at bats. Alonso had gone 8-for-10 in the first two games of the weekend series.
Wychock, who batted .500 in the series with two homers and six RBI's, led the Tigers' 12-hit attack in the series finale. He was three-for-four with a double, a homer and four RBI's. His home run was the 28th roundtripper of his career. He is tied for 11th place on Towson's all-time list of home run leaders.
Winter also added two hits while Harclerode was two-for-four and scored two runs. Harclerode had a double and a triple in the win. Yarsinsky had just one hit but he scored two runs while freshman leftfielder Kurt Wertz went two-for-four. Parker had one hit and drove in two runs.
Long and Yates led the Blue Hens with two hits each.
The Tigers, who are in the midst of a streak of nine consecutive home games, will return to action on Tuesday afternoon with a non-conference game at the Naval Academy at 3:00 p.m.
