NEWARK, DE -- Chris Nehl (at right) clubbed an eighth-inning pinch-hit home run just after Ryan Cuneo blooped a three-run triple down the right field line in the seventh to complete a furious comeback that saw the University of Delaware baseball team erase a six-run deficit to post a 14-13 victory over Colonial Athletic Association frontrunner and No. 29 ranked UNC Wilmington at a balmy Bob Hannah Stadium on Friday afternoon.

Cuneo eventually finished the day with five RBI, while Kyle Davis chipped in with three. Cuneo, Alex Buchholz, and Ryan Reed also added two hits for the victorious Hens.

With the victory, Delaware (13-22, 6-10 CAA) improves to 5-2 at home during conference play, while the loss drops UNCW (27-8-1, 16-2-1) to 7-2-1 away from Brooks Field in CAA contests.

In the seventh inning, after Delaware posted an incredible comeback to pull within one at 11-10, the Hens loaded the bases with two outs when Cuneo stepped to the plate. Delaware’s first baseman lifted a high fly ball down the right field line that found open space between three converging Seahawks. Daniel Hargrave, the UNCW second baseman, got his glove on the ball while trying to make an over-the-shoulder catch but could not complete the incredible grab as the ball squirted out of his webbing.

Although there was a dispute over whether or not the ball landed or was touched in fair territory, the umpires ruled it was a live ball, and before the Seahawks could regroup and react to the play, Cuneo found his way to third base. His triple brought home Scott Shockley, Davis, and Pat Dameron and gave the Hens their first lead of the day at 13-11.

Up two, Delaware ran into trouble in the bottom of the inning after Hargrave roped a lead-off home run to left before Mark Carver and Nate Hall hit back-to-back singles. With two on and two out, UNCW’s Justin Barefoot ripped a clutch single down the left field line that brought in Carver to tie the game at 13.

In the bottom of the inning, unfazed by the Seahawks’ comeback, Nehl, who was pinch-hitting for Matt Harden, slammed a 2-2 pitch deep into the clearing behind the left field wall to put the Hens up, 14-13. The rest of the lineup went down in order, but the blast proved to be the game-winner as closer David Slovak fired a perfect ninth to lock up the victory.

The save was Slovak’s third of the season and the 15th of his career. With it, he moved past Bob Koontz for sole possession of second place on Delaware’s all-time career list. He now sits just three away from tying Scott Gellert for the program record.

Freshman Michael Londino (1-3) picked up his first win of the season for the Hens, while Cameron Roth (3-1) took the loss for the Seahawks after surrendering three runs, but only one earned, in his two innings of work.

The outcome seemed unlikely early after UNC Wilmington jumped on Delaware starter Brad Miller out of the gate. The potent Seahawk lineup put its first two batters of the game on base after Bobby Leeper led off with a single and Hargrave roped a double to left. After Miller put away Jason Appel with a pop up to third, Carver drilled a three-run home run to right.

The UNCW bats refused to go down quietly in the second either when the team loaded the bases as David Shambley doubled, Michael Rooney was hit by a pitch, and Hargrave walked. With no margin for error, Appel made the Hens pay with a bases-clearing triple to right center that put the Seahawks up, 6-0.

Trailing big early, Delaware responded in the bottom of the second to pull within one at 6-5. Reed led off the five-run rally with a one-out double to center before scoring on a line-drive two-run shot by Jared Olson that cleared the left field wall. Following the blast, Bill Merkler and Pat Dameron ripped back-to-back singles to put two men on when Davis unloaded on a Seth Frankoff offering for his third home run of the season which put the Hens back in the game.

After the teams traded runs in the third, the Seahawks added three more in the next two innings to push their lead to four at 10-6. Although Delaware had no immediate answer, going down in order in the fifth, the team’s offense worked out of its middle-inning funk with a three-spot in the sixth.

In the inning, Delaware loaded the bases with two outs before Cuneo ripped a two-run single back up the middle. After UNCW brought in reliever Allen Flood to face Reed, the Hens’ starting catcher ripped an RBI single to right that brought in Shockley and pulled Delaware within one at 10-9.

The Seahawks answered with a run in the seventh when Michael Ronney slapped a double down the left field line that brought in Cody Stanley, who had reached on an error earlier in the inning. Despite its late two-run advantage, UNCW walked the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh after Bill Merkler, Dameron, and Davis all worked free passes. Despite the jam, the Seahawks appeared ready to come out unscathed when Roth struck out Tsakonas before Buchholz fouled out to first.

With two outs and the bases still packed with Hens, Scott Shockley ripped a ball that was mishandled by UNCW’s first baseman and brought in Delaware’s 10th run of the game. Cuneo continued to make the Seahawks pay for their miscue when he lifted his three-run triple down the right field line to cap off the rally.

The two teams will continue their three-game series tomorrow at 1 p.m.

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