GREENSBORO, N.C. – Delaware tied UNCG at one in the third inning on an unearned run and things stayed that way until the Blue Hens hit a pair of RBI singles in the 14th inning to defeat the Spartans, 3-1, on Sunday afternoon at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
The Blue Hens (1-2) did all of their damage in the 14th with two outs. Aaron Mascoe got things started with a single to right field and was able to move to second after Dave Anderson was hit by a pitch. D.J. Long followed with a single up the middle to score Mascoe and break a one-all contest. Pat Dameron followed with an RBI single of his own to right field to score Anderson and put Delaware ahead, 3-1.
UNCG (2-1) was only able to put on runner on base in the bottom half on a walk with two outs, but a groundout ended the game.
Stephen Ritcher came in and pitched 3 1/3 innings of no-hit ball in relief to pick up the win. Pete Schultz was credited with the loss after giving up two runs on three hits in two innings of work.
Matt Crump led the Spartan offense on Sunday as he went 2-5 with a solo home run and also added a walk. Crump's home run was the lone extra base hit for the Spartans.
The Blue Hens were led by Long who went 3-5 with a pair of RBI. Dameron also had a nice afternoon with a 2-5 performance and an RBI to go along with a pair of walks.
Crump got things going for the Spartans in the bottom half of the second inning. With two outs, Crump took a 2-1 pitch well over the wall in left field to give UNCG the early 1-0 lead.
The Spartan lead didn't last long, however, as the Blue Hens responded with a run of their own in the top of the third. With one out, Mascoe hit a double to left center. Anderson then hit a ground ball to shortstop, but the throw to third to catch Mascoe was short and Mascoe was safe at third. Long then hit a ball to deep right field that allowed Mascoe to tag up and score from third to tie the game at one.
The score would stay that way until Long and Dameron's RBI singles in the 14th innings.
Each team had its chances in extra innings, but weren't able to capitalize. In the bottom of the 10th inning, UNCG had runners on first and second with just one out, but the Spartans fouled out to first and grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Blue Hens came right back with a chance of their own in the top half of the 11th. With two outs and runners on the corners, Delaware hit a hard ground ball to third, but Thomas Troelstrup was able to make a diving stop and throw out the runner at first.
UNCG had a chance of its own in the 11th inning as it had runners on the corners with one out, but again failed to push a runner across the plate after a pair of fly outs.
It appeared as if Delaware would go in front in the 13th inning as it loaded the bases with no outs. Schultz was brought in from the bullpen and walked his first batter to load the bases, but then settled down to induce a foul out to third base, a strikeout and a groundout to end the threat.
The Spartans will return to action on Tuesday as they host UNC Asheville at 4 p.m. at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
AGATE
Delaware 3, UNCG 1
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Delaware............ 001 000 000 000 02 - 3 9 0 (1-2)
UNCG................ 010 000 000 000 00 - 1 8 1 (2-1)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Delaware - Pearson, Devon; Kuhl, Chad(7); O'Keeffe, Michael(11); Hinkle, Brandon(11); Ritcher, Stephen(11) and Mascoe, Aaron. UNCG - Colby Hyatt; Jonathan Jones(7); Greg Smith(12); Pete Schultz(13) and Matt Crump.
Win-Ritcher, Stephen(1-0) Loss-Pete Schultz(0-1) T-3:46 A-287
HR UNCG - Matt Crump.
Weather: 54 and partly cloudy
- UNCG -
