Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell

NEWARK, DE -- The Blue Hen offense exploded for 18 hits and the pitching staff held Saint Joseph's to just one earned run as the University of Delaware baseball team stormed past the Hawks, 17-2, in the first round of the Liberty Bell Classic at Bob Hannah Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.

Kyle Davis (at right) went 4-for-6 with a grand slam, while Pat Dameron also recorded four hits and added a home run to pace the Blue Hens' red-hot lineup. Delaware’s six-man pitching staff, anchored by Alex Dalsey (1-1) who picked up his first win of the season, also did well after surrendering 11 hits but only giving up two runs to shut down the Saint Joseph’s offense.

With the win, Delaware improved its record to 7-14, which is one game better than last year’s squad that went 6-15 in its first 21 games before going on a late season run to tie for the Colonial Athletic Association regular season title and eventually finish second in the postseason tournament.

The 15-run win also marked the team’s largest margin of victory over a Division I opponent since downing the Hawks, 26-4, on February 29, 2004.

Although the game became one-sided, Saint Joseph’s (8-13) held an early one-run lead after Ryan McDonald tripled off Jared Olson and scored on an RBI ground out by Matt Barnathan. Trailing by one, Delaware struck back with a vengeance as the Hens scored 17 runs over a four-inning span to grab the lead and roll to the victory.

Following four scoreless innings, Delaware broke free in the fifth. Dameron led off with a double, and although the Hawks got the next two batters out, Adam Tsakonas, who earlier extended his career-best hitting streak to 15 games in the first inning, reached on an error and Alex Buchholz cleared the bases with a two-run triple to right field.

One inning later, the Hens struck for four more in the sixth to extend their lead to 6-1. Once again, Dameron was in the middle of the rally after clubbing his first home run of the season on a blast to left center. After Ryan Reed roped a single, Saint Joseph’s chose to intentionally walk Scott Shockley to face Dameron with one out. Pat immediately made them pay for their decision, clubbing the three-run shot.

Tsakonas capped off the inning with a sacrifice fly that plated Josh Dean who had earlier singled and advanced to third on a hit by Davis.

The offense continued its onslaught in the bottom of the seventh after the Hawks cut their deficit to five with a run in the top of the inning. Walks to Bill Merkler and Shockley along with a single by Todd Menchaca loaded the bases with two outs for Josh Dean. On a fluke play, Dean struck out swinging, but after the ball found its way back to the screen, Merkler came charging home and Dean reached first safely on the wild pitch to keep the inning alive.

One batter later, Davis took advantage of the miscue as he clubbed a grand slam to left center, which put the Hens up by an 11-2 advantage.

In the eighth, with the game already out of hand, Delaware tacked on six more runs. Merkler roped an RBI double after Buchholz reached on an error. Then Todd Menchaca, who recorded his first career hit in the previous inning, notched his first RBI after driving in Merkler.

Shockley and Dameron followed with back-to-back singles before Chris Nehl, who roped four hits in the Hens’ last game, was drilled in the head by a pitch. Davis then smacked a two-run double down the left field line before Buchholz capped the scoring with a sacrifice fly.

The Blue Hen pitching staff also had a strong performance as Olson, Matt Harden, Dalsey, Corey Crispell, Joe Tebaldi, and Michael Londino combined to strike out six and allow only two runs over nine strong innings of work.

Don Werner (2-2) suffered the loss for Saint Joseph’s after surrendering six runs, including four earned, in two innings of work.

The Blue Hens will return to action on Friday at 7 p.m. when they travel to Williamsburg, VA to take on William & Mary for the start of a three-game conference series.

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