Thursday, April 4, 2013

DSU Hornets Outplay Towson Tigers for Seventh Straight Win

DOVER, Delaware  --  The Delaware State baseball team collected 11 hits and took advantage of four Towson errors in a 10-7 victory over the Tigers at Soldier Field this afternoon. The Hornets have won their last seven games to improve to 19-7 this season. Towson fell to 13-14.

Aaron Nardone was 3-for-5 with two runs batted in, while J.P. Frey, Cameron Cecil and Mike Alexander collected two hits each for the Hornets.  Nardone had two doubles in the contest to give him a team-high seven this season.
Towson opened the scoring with two runs off Delaware State starter Zach Adkins in the top of the first inning.

Delaware State scored five runs on just three hits in the second inning to take the lead. The Hornets tallied three runs in the inning on Towson errors and a fourth on a wild pitch. Alexander singled to lead off the inning. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Eddie Sorondo. Hassan Evans followed with a single to put DSU runners on third and first.  Nick Arrue was at the plate when Alexander scored the Hornets’ first run on a wild pitch by Towson starter Kevin Ross. Two batters later, Frey singled to right field to score Evans with the tying run. The next batter, Cameron Cecil, reached on a throwing error by Towson shortstop Hunter Bennett. Cameron Onderko scored on the play to give the Hornets a 3-2 lead. After a walk to Ryan Haas, Nardone reached on an error by Tiger second baseman Pat Fitzgerald. Frey crossed the plate on the play to stretch DSU’s lead to 4-2. Alexander, batting for the second time in the inning, reached on an error by Towson pitcher Ross. Cecil scored on the play, giving the Hornets a 5-2 lead.

Towson scored two runs in the third inning off Adkins and one in the fourth off Hornet reliever Bobby Brown to tie the game at 5-5.

Delaware State answered with a run in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead for good. Cecil started the rally with a one-out single. Haas followed with a walk to give the Hornets runners at second and first with one out. Nardone followed with a hard ground ball to second. The ball took a bad hop off the side of the head of Towson second baseman Fitzgerald and rolled into the outfield for a double. Cecil scored on the play to put the Hornets on top 6-5. Fitzgerald was shaken up but stayed in the game.

The Hornets padded their lead with four runs in the fifth. Cecil and Haas had run scoring doubles, while Nardone and Alexander singled in runs in the inning. Alexander’s hit gave DSU a 10-5 lead.
The Tigers scored two runs off DSU reliever George Michael in the sixth to pull to within 10-7. 

Delaware State reliever Zach Candeloro retired all three batters he faced in the eighth; and Derek Marshallsea pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his first save of the season for the Hornets.

Haas was one-for-two with a RBI in the contest, giving him seven hits and 10 runs batted in his last 11 at bats (.636).  

Brown pitched 1.1 innings out of the bullpen to earn his first win of the season (1-1).

Delaware State will return to MEAC North play this weekend at home against Norfolk State. The series begins with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at noon. The teams will play a single game on Sunday starting at 1:00 p.m.

COURTESY DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

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