Photos Courtesy of Mark Campbell

Boxscore

NEWARK, Del. - Carlos Alonso clocked a pair of home runs and Brian Rorick (top right) fired eight strong innings on the mound to lead the University of Delaware baseball team to an 11-1 victory over Hofstra during a Colonial Athletic Association battle on Sunday afternoon at Bob Hannah Stadium.

Alonso (middle right) finished the game 2-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored. His offensive performance backed another excellent outing by Rorick. The flame-throwing right-hander struck out four and allowed just one run over eight innings on the hill.

Josh Dean (bottom right) also roped four hits, scored three times, knocked in a pair of runs, and stole his team-leading 14th base of the season. Pat Dameron, D.J. Long, Steve Ulaky, and Aaron Mascoe also tallied two hits apiece to round out a well-balanced offensive attack.

The victory allowed Delaware (23-22, 5-13 CAA) to win its first series since taking 2-of-3 from Towson on April 16-18. The squad capitalized on an excellent performance by the offense as the Blue Hens combined to score 49 runs on 55 hits, including 16 home runs, during the three-game set with Hofstra (19-23-1, 9-9).

After clubbing a single-game school record nine bombs during yesterday’s contest, the Blue Hens showed that their overnight layoff did little to cool off the bats. Alonso led off the first by firing a solo blast to left center before Dean launched an opposite field shot that got caught in the jet stream and carried out to right.

Two innings later, Delaware came through with another run on an incredible heads-up play by Dean. With the bases loaded and only one down, Hank Yates skied a foul ball towards the Hofstra dugout. After three members of the Pride gave chase, first baseman Ethan Paquette eventually snagged the ball.

On the play, Dean made sure to tag up before reading the defense perfectly. With no one guarding home, the senior centerfielder came sprinting towards the plate. In a foot race with the third baseman, Dean won the 90-foot dash and safely slid in with the squad’s third run of the game.

In the fourth, Delaware returned to its normal slugging style of offense. With Dave Anderson on second, Alonso smacked a slicing line drive to right that cleared the fence and clanked off the scoreboard to give UD a 5-0 advantage.

The Blue Hens continued the surge with an RBI single by Long in the fifth before erupting for three more in the sixth. During the rally, Dean doubled down the rightfield line before Cuneo launched a two-run blast to right center. Later, after Pat Dameron was hit by a pitch and Matt Greco entered as a pinch runner, the sophomore speedster came sprinting around to score on a double by Ulaky.

In the top of the seventh, Greco returned to the field to make the defensive play of the game. Pride slugger Matt Prokopowicz lofted a high fly down the leftfield line. As the wind played tricks with the ball, Greco tracked it, dove, and made an exceptional grab in his out-stretched glove.

Still leading by nine, Delaware fired two more on the board in the bottom of the seventh. Long and Mascoe both singled to start the rally before a wild pitch allowed the first run to come in. Later, Dean cranked a single to center that chased in Mascoe to give the squad an 11-0 lead.

Although Hofstra finally cracked the scoreboard in the eighth on an RBI single by Scott A’Hara, the Pride could not overcome its double-digit deficit. Eventually, Rorick worked out of the eighth before Kyle Thomas fired a perfect ninth to clinch the victory.

Rorick (3-2) earned the win with his stellar outing. Along with his four strikeouts, he also picked off his league-leading seventh runner of the season. Sean Monaghan (3-4) took the loss after allowing five runs during his four innings of work.

Delaware will return to action on Friday at 7 p.m. when the squad travels to Norfolk, Va. for the start of a three-game series against Old Dominion.