Photo Courtesy of Chris Mlynarczyk

Boxscore

NEWARK, Del. -The University of Delaware baseball team came up just short in its bid to salvage a game in the squad's Colonial Athletic Association series against UNC Wilmington as the Seahawks pulled out a 7-6 victory in 11 innings on Sunday afternoon at Bob Hannah Stadium.

Carlos Alonso (top right) went 4-for-6 with a go-ahead two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth. Four other Blue Hens also posted multi-hit efforts, including D.J. Long who extended his hitting streak to 23 games.

The loss capped off the first sweep by an opponent at Bob Hannah Stadium since 2006 when VCU accomplished the feat. With the win, UNCW improved to 19-13 on the season, including 6-3 in the CAA. Delaware fell back to .500 at 14-14 with a 1-5 mark in conference action.

After Delaware vaulted out to a three-run lead in the first and UNCW came charging back with a run in the second and fifth, the two teams squared off for a fantastic final six innings of baseball.

Trailing 3-2 entering the top of the sixth, the Seahawks took their first lead of the game with a two-out rally. Following a single by Ben Thielsen and a double by Mike Rooney, UNCW put its first run on the board after a Blue Hen miscue before Rhett Miller beat out an infield single that gave the squad a 4-3 lead.

Staring at their first deficit of the day, the Hens wasted little time responding. Hank Yates opened the bottom of the inning with a single to center. Two batters later, Alonso lined a two-run blast to left center that gave UD a 5-4 advantage. The home run marked the eighth of the season for Alonso, which tied him for the team lead and effectively doubled his output from 2009.

With the lead back in hand, Blue Hen starter Eric Buckland (bottom right) continued his strong outing. He eventually finished up his start with a pair of strikeouts in the seventh before giving way to the bullpen.

Reliever Devon Pearson took over in the seventh and picked up right where he left off yesterday after tossing four scoreless frames in Saturday’s contest. The sophomore southpaw struck out two of the first four hitters he faced in the seventh and eighth.

Still clinging to a one-run lead, Delaware almost added an insurance run in the eighth when Chris Branigan attempted to score from second on an infield single by Long. Unfortunately, a perfect throw by the UNCW first baseman caught Branigan just before he could slide in safely.

Three outs away from victory, Pearson retired the first hitter on a fly ball to right in the ninth, but he was not as successful against Alex Hill. The Seahawk outfielder found a pitch he liked and quickly evened the score at five with a solo shot over the scoreboard in right.

In the bottom of the ninth, Delaware looked to be in prime position to score after Dave Anderson drew a one-out walk and Ryan Cuneo lined a double down the leftfield line. It was not meant to be, however, as Anderson was gunned down at the plate trying to score on a chopper by Matt Greco before a fly out by Josh Dean ended the inning.

After Delaware missed out on an opportunity to put the game away in the ninth, UNCW did the same in the 10th. Following a leadoff walk to Hunter Ridge and an infield single by Michael Bass, Delaware intentionally walked Rooney to load the bases with one out.

With the heart of the order looming, reliever Nick Young benefitted from a great heads-up play by Alonso to escape the jam. Thomas Pope ripped a shot to third, but Alonso made an excellent stop on the rocket. He quickly regained his footing, fired a strike to Long at second base, who relayed the ball to Cuneo at first for a clutch 5-4-3 double play to end the threat.

After the Hens went down in order in the bottom of the inning, the Seahawks took advantage in the 11th. UNCW loaded the bases again following walks to Hill and Will Edgerton as well as a single by Robbie Monday. With two outs, Bass came through with the biggest hit of the game as the infielder lined a single to right that chased in two and gave the visitors a 7-5 lead.

Delaware did its best to post a response in the bottom of the frame as Long led off with a deep double to left center before Anderson drove him in with a one-out single. Unfortunately, after Cuneo worked a walk to put the winning run on base, Seahawk reliever Stephen Harrold struck out the final two hitters to seal the victory.

Harrold (2-0) earned the win for his efforts after allowing one run on three hits in 2.2 innings of relief. Young (1-4) took the loss after surrendering a pair of runs in 2.1 innings of work.

Although UNCW came through in the end, the early part of the contest was a bright spot for Delaware. For the first time all series, the Hens grabbed a lead after plating three in the bottom of the first. Alonso started the rally with a single to right before Anderson legged out a double to short center. Two batters later, Pat Dameron lined an RBI single to center to kick off the scoring. Josh Dean and Steve Ulaky quickly followed with their own run-scoring singles to cap off the opening surge.

Although UNCW answered with a solo shot off the bat of Robbie Monday in the bottom of the second, Buckland held the Seahawks in check for most of the game. The freshman flame-thrower struck out a season-high eight batters in his 6.2 innings of work.

Eventually, UNCW plated another run in the top of the fifth on an RBI double by Monday to pull within one before the teams traded two-run rallies in the sixth on the way to the extra-inning thriller.

Anderson, Yates, and Long all finished the game with two hits and a run, while Dean went 2-for-6 with an RBI. The Seahawks were led by Monday, who went 3-for-6 with two RBI and a pair of runs scored.

The Blue Hens will be back in action on Tuesday when the squad travels to Dover for a 3 p.m. contest against intrastate rival Delaware State.