TOWSON,
Md. – Junior righthander Adam Davis and senior righthander Matt Soren combined to pitch a six-hit shutout, leading the
University of Delaware (8-4, 2-0) to its fifth straight win, an 8-0 Colonial Athletic
Association victory over the Tigers (6-6, 0-2) in the second game of
their three-game weekend series at John B. Schuerholz Park on Saturday
afternoon.
The loss was Towson's
fourth in a row after opening the season with a 6-2 record.
Davis pitched 5.1
innings and allowed four hits. He survived five walks and struck out four,
upping his record to 2-2. Soren earned his first save of the season as he
pitched 3.2 innings of shutout relief, allowing two hits while walking one and
striking out four.
Senior second baseman
D.J. Long led the Blue Hens'
offense. He went four-for-four and hit his first two home runs of the season.
It marked the first two-homer game of his career.
Delaware took a 1-0
lead in the second inning when Long and third baseman Zach Lopes opened the inning with back-to-back singles. However,
first baseman Jake Clark grounded to
third baseman Mike Draper, who
turned the ground ball into a double play. With a runner on second and two
outs, sophomore catcher Ty Warrington
singled to left field, driving in Lopes with the first run of the game.
Sophomore righthander Paul Beers
pitched out of the inning when he struck out shortstop Brock Niggebrugge.
The Tigers missed a
great chance to take a lead in the bottom of the second inning. Sophomore first
baseman Brendan Butler led off with
a double to left center field. After Draper sacrificed him to third base,
junior shortstop Hunter Bennett
tried to execute a safety squeeze bunt. However, he bunted right back to Davis,
who threw home to Warrington who tagged out Butler trying to score. With
Bennett on first and two outs, junior second baseman Pat Fitzgerald reached base on an infield hit. A walk to junior
centerfielder Brandon Gonnella
loaded the bases. But Davis struck out sophomore outfielder Peter Bowles to retire the side.
In the fourth inning,
Long led off with a solo homer over the left field fence, his first home run of
the season.
The Blue Hens added
an unearned run in the sixth inning. Senior rightfielder Nick Ferdinand led off by reaching base on a throwing error by
Bennett, Towson's first error in six games. A bunt single by Long gave Delaware
two runners on base with no outs. A sacrifice bunt by Lopes moved both runners
into scoring position. An intentional walk to Clark loaded the bases.
Warrington's second
RBI single of the game upped the Blue Hens' lead to 3-0.
But reliever Lee Lawler got pinch hitter Alex Mottle to hit a dribbler in front
of home plate that senior catcher Andrew Parker turned into an inning-ending double play.
Delaware broke the
game open in the eighth inning. Long led off by drawing a walk. After reaching
second base on a sacrifice bunt, he remained there when Clark grounded out to
third. An intentional walk to Warrington put two runners on base with two outs.
But the strategy backfired when junior third baseman E.J. Stolzfuss doubled to deep centerfield, scoring two runs to
give the Blue Hens a 5-0 lead. Moments later, a double by sophomore
centerfielder Joe Giacchino drove in
Stolzfuss to give Delaware a 6-0 advantage.
In the ninth inning,
Ferdinand and Long hit back-to-back homers to give Delaware an 8-0 lead.
Towson did threaten
in the bottom of the ninth and had two runners on base with no outs. But Storen
nailed down the win by retiring the next three hitters in a row.
Junior Dominic Fratantuono led the Tigers with two hits while Butler, Fitzgerald, Kurt Wertz and Draper had the other
Towson hits. Towson left 11 runners on base.
Beers took the loss
for the Tigers. In 5.1 innings, he allowed two earned runs on seven hits.
Towson and Delaware
close out their three-game series with a 1:00 contest on Sunday afternoon.
