Six Run Eighth Inning Powers Delaware Past Rutgers, 14-12, in Non-Conference Slugfest
April 26, 2011
Photos courtesy of Mark Campbell _lg.jpg)
• Boxscore
NEWARK, Del. - - Trailing by three runs heading into the bottom of the eighth, the University of Delaware baseball team plated six runners to take the lead and went on to defeat Rutgers, 14-12, in non-conference action at Bob Hannah Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.
Pat Dameron tied the game for Delaware (23-17 overall) with a bases clearing three-run run double to score the first runs of the eighth inning. EJ Stoltzfus (above right) followed two batters later with the go-ahead run with a single in the hole between first and second to score Dameron. Dave Anderson then doubled down the right field line plating the eventual game-winning runs as Nick Ferdinand and Stoltzfus came home.
“He was throwing a lot more fastballs than the other pitchers,” Stoltzfus said. “So I went up there looking for a fastball and I got one, and I managed to put one between first and second.”
Rutgers (14-23 overall) saw their three run lead diminish after they scored two in the seventh and one in the eighth to grab the advantage. Rob Corsi was charged with the loss for the Scarlet Knights after pitching 2.1 innings and allowing six runs (zero earned) on four hits.
The Blue Hens used seven different pitchers, all starting in the fifth inning following a line drive that hit starter Eric Buckland in the left knee, forcing him out of the game. Buckland did not record an out in the fifth, pitching four innings giving up five runs (three earned) on eight hits. He tallied four strikeouts in the early going as well.
Brandon Hinkle threw the final two thirds of the eighth inning, recording a strikeout while not giving up a hit to pick up his first victory of the season.
The Blue Hens took their first lead of the afternoon in the third, as DJ Long and Dameron started the inning with back-to-back singles. After Long scored while tagging to third due to Pat Sweeney bobbling the throw from the outfield, Nick Ferdinand stepped in and sent a 1-2 pitch over the 365 sign in left-center for his sixth home run of the season.
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Freshman designated hitter Jimmy Yezzo (below right) made it 5-2 in the fourth inning, blasting a low line drive home run over the wall in right for his second collegiate home run.
After Rutgers five-run fifth inning, the Hens tied it once again at 8-8 with a three run sixth. Stoltzfus singled to lead things off and moved to third as Anderson doubled inside the third base bag and down the line. Two batters later, Yezzo sent the first pitch he saw off a new reliever back up the middle, scoring two. Now with two outs, Long tied the game with a double of his own down the left field line, plating Hank Yates all the way from first.
But after giving up three runs over the next two innings, it was the Blue Hen bats that pulled through once again in a big way with the six run eighth inning.
“We have a lot of heart,” the freshman from Brigantine, N.J. said of the late game comebacks the Blue Hens have become accustomed to. “We don’t give up. You know guys in the lineup can hit so we are just going to pull through for them, and then they usually come up big.”
Stoltzfus led all Blue Hens with three hits, finishing 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. Long, Dameron, and Yezzo all added two hits apiece while Dameron, Ferdinand and Yezzo had a team high three RBI’s each.
The Blue Hens have a chance to carry their momentum into another nonconference game tomorrow, as they take on Villanova in the Liberty Bell Classic Final at Citizens Bank Park at 3 p.m.
“I’ve never played there so I’m going to be excited,” Stoltzfus added of playing in the Philadelphia Phillies home ballpark. “We are going to come out pumped up. It definitely adds a little more to it than a regular nonconference game.”
AGATE:
Rutgers…… 2 0 0 0 5 1 2 1 1 – 12 17 4
Delaware.… 1 0 3 1 0 3 0 6 X – 14 13 4
E – Favatella 2 (5); Sweeney 2 (7); Stoltzfus (5); Shupe 2 (4); O’Keeffe (1). LOB – Rutgers 11; Delaware 5. 2B – O’Grady (4); Zavala (3); Boykin (5); Hoermann 2 (7); Long (15); Dameron (17); Ulaky (15); Anderson 2 (7). HR – Ferdinand (6); Yezzo (2). SH – O’Grady (4). SF – Anderson (2); Hopkins (3); Ferdinand (2). SB – Lang 2 (5); O’Grady (2); Anderson (3); Sweeney (2). CS – Sweeney (3). Reached on CI – Favatella
Win – Brandon Hinkle (1-0). Loss – Rob Corsi (3-3). Save – Steve Richter (8).
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