DOVER, Del. – Rightfielder Aaron Nardone had three hits and Delaware State (19-6) took advantage of four Towson University (13-14) errors as the Hornets handed the Tigers a 10-7 loss at Soldier Field on Wednesday.
The Hornets scored five runs in the second inning and four runs in the fifth as they posted their seventh win in a row.
The Tigers took a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Zach Fisher singled, stole second base and scored on a double by Brendan Butler. Later in the inning, Butler gave Towson a 2-0 lead when he scored on a wild pitch.
In the bottom of the second inning, the Hornets took advantage of three errors to score five runs and take a 5-2 lead. In the third inning, the Tigers cut the deficit to 5-4 when Fisher singled and Peter Bowles had a run-scoring single. Dominic Fratantuono also singled and scored on a balk.
Towson tied the game in the fourth when Richie Blosser walked and Brandon Gonnella singled. Blosser scored the tying run on a single by Fisher.
Delaware State took a 6-5 lead when Nardone doubled home a run in the fourth. Back-to-back doubles by Cameron Cecil and Ryan Haas highlighted a four-run fourth inning that gave the Hornets a 10-5 lead.
The Tigers pulled to within 10-7 in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by Butler and an RBI single by Fratantuono.
However, the Hornets' bullpen shut out the Tigers the rest of the way.
Sophomore righthander Nick Cioffi did a solid job out of the bullpen for the Tigers, pitching 3.1 innings and allowing no runs on two hits with no walks and two strikeouts.
Each team had 11 hits in the game. Fisher led Towson with three hits while Andrew Parker and Fratantuono had two hits each.
The Tigers return to action on Wednesday when they host Navy at 3:30 p.m.
