Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell

Boxscore

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The University of Delaware baseball team took advantage of an eight-run rally in the fifth inning to quickly erase an early deficit on the way to a 12-5 victory over Rutgers on Tuesday afternoon at Bainton Field.

Seven Blue Hens posted at least two hits, including Carlos Alonso (at right) and Steve Ulaky who each notched three apiece. Alonso also knocked in two runs, scored a pair, and posted his team-leading eighth stolen base of the season.

After an uncharacteristically quiet performance against Delaware State last week, the Blue Hen offense regained its swagger against Rutgers. Entering the fifth tied at three, Delaware (23-15) broke the game wide open with an eight-run rally.

The Hens capitalized on three straight doubles to kick off their surge. Bill Merkler led off with a ground-rule double to center before Ryan Reed traded places with him after slamming his own two-base hit. Ulaky quickly followed with an RBI double to right that gave the visitors a 5-3 advantage.

Following a pitching change, Scott Shockley came through with an RBI single before Alonso ripped a two-run base hit through the left side of the infield. Later, the Hens’ star lead-off hitter came around to score on a single by Ryan Cuneo before a Rutgers miscue and a Reed single accounted for the final two runs of the frame.

After seeing a 3-3 tie flip into an 11-3 deficit, the Scarlet Knights (17-25) responded with a single run in the bottom of the fifth to pull back within seven.

Two innings later, Delaware tacked on another run in the seventh. Following a walk to Reed and singles by Alonso and Ulaky, the Hens loaded the bases before Jared Olson was hit by a pitch. Although Rutgers eventually worked out of the jam relatively unscathed and answered with a Ryan Kapp solo home run in the bottom of the inning, Delaware retained its seven-run edge from then on.

Devon Pearson (2-2) benefited from the onslaught and earned the victory for the Blue Hens. The freshman southpaw allowed one run on three hits while posting a strikeout in his 1.2 innings out of the bullpen.

Matt Harden and Corey Crispell also had strong relief efforts as the two sophomores combined to surrender just one hit over their 4.1 innings of work.

After falling behind by three runs in the early part of the game, the Blue Hens pieced together a quick answer in the fourth. Ulaky led off the rally with a single to left before Shockley drew a one-out walk. Josh Dean opened the scoring after punching a single back up the middle, while Kyle Davis capped the frame with a two-run triple to left center.

The following inning, the Hens put the game away with their eight-run rally.

Ulaky finished with three hits and two runs scored, while Merkler, Shockley, Dean, and Alonso also scored twice. Alonso, Reed, and Davis knocked in a pair as well.

Delaware will return to action on Friday when the team opens up a three-game series at UNC Wilmington with a 7 p.m. showdown.