Boxscore

NEWARK, Del. -Despite falling behind by as many as five runs, the University of Delaware baseball team fought back and overcame its deficit on the way to a thrilling 9-8 victory over Saint Joseph's on Wednesday afternoon at Bob Hannah Stadium.

Chris Branigan (at right) led the Blue Hens with three hits and four RBI. D.J. Long also tallied a pair of hits, including the game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth. With his performance, he extended his hitting streak to 25 games, which is now the sixth longest in program history.

Carlos Alonso, Aaron Mascoe, and Hank Yates all added multi-hit performances as well, while Josh Dean scored a pair of runs for Delaware (16-14).

After suffering through a minor offensive outage in the beginning of the game, the Blue Hens found themselves trailing by five entering the bottom of the sixth. Despite the deficit, Delaware regrouped with a beautiful two-out rally.

Dean was hit by a pitch and Yates ripped a double to left before Branigan launched a three-run blast to left center for his second home run of the season. Later, back-to-back singles by Mascoe and Alonso and a walk to Long loaded the bases for Cuneo. The senior captain came through in the clutch with a sharp single to left that knotted the game at six.

With the momentum shifting, Saint Joseph’s (11-16) refused to go down quietly. RBI knocks by Brian Hartsell and Joe Cook gave the Hawks a two-run lead, but the Hens wasted little time in responding.

In the bottom of the seventh, Dean singled, moved to second on a ground out, and scored on an base hit by Branigan. Later, the Hens’ first baseman advanced to second on a passed ball before a Hawk miscue allowed him to score the tying run.

With the score knotted at eight, reliever Devon Pearson kept Delaware in the game. In the eighth, he struck out a pair of hitters before picking off the only batter who reached base. Then, in the ninth, he struck out two more before making a nice defensive play to get out of the inning.

With a Hawk runner on second base, Ryan McDonald ripped a sharp grounder back to the mound. Pearson quickly gloved the ball, flipped it in the air, and secured a new grip before firing a strike to first for the final out of the inning.

Three outs away from extra innings, the Blue Hens had little interest in playing bonus baseball. Delaware loaded the bases with no outs following hits by Yates and Mascoe as well as a walk to Branigan. With no more room on the base paths, Saint Joseph’s got Alonso to pop out to first before Long stepped into the box.

After a long at bat that saw the freshman second baseman work the count nicely and fight off a tough pitch on his hands, he found a ball he liked and drove it into right center for the walk-off win.

Pearson (2-0) earned the victory after striking out five over three solid innings of relief. Kevin Burum (0-1) took the loss for Saint Joseph’s.

Early on in the game, the Hawks looked to be in control. The visitors broke through first in the top of the second after Kevin Taylor clocked a triple to dead centerfield and scored on a groundout by Joe Cook. Despite the early damage, though, Blue Hen starter Matt Soren settled in. The freshman righty worked scoreless frames in the third and fourth while posting seven strikeouts during his outing.

Eventually, the Hawks struck again in the top of the fifth with a two-out rally. After Cook was hit by a pitch, Dewey Oriente and David Valesente posted back-to-back home runs to secure a 4-0 lead for Saint Joseph’s.

Although the Blue Hens kept putting runners on base in the early innings, the squad was unable to light up the scoreboard until the bottom of the fifth when a two-base error by the Hawk leftfielder allowed Alonso to score from first.

Saint Joseph’s immediately shot back with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth, but Delaware found its groove in the later innings and outscored the Hawks, 8-2, down the stretch to secure the victory.

The Hens will be back in action on Friday at 3 p.m. when the team opens up a three-game series with Towson at Bob Hannah Stadium.