DELAWARE CRUISES PAST JMU BASEBALL 10-5

Saturday, April 23

Newark, Del.

1:00 p.m.

James Madison University

26-14, 11-9

Delaware

22-16, 13-7

James Madison

Delaware

4/23/2011 8:41:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

NEWARK, Del., April 23, 2011 - First baseman Steve Ulaky drove in four runs with a home run and three-run double to help Delaware jump out to an early 6-2 lead before rolling to a 10-5 win over James Madison in the second game of a Colonial Athletic Association baseball series Saturday afternoon at Bob Hannah Stadium.

Delaware improved to 22-16 overall and 13-7 in the CAA. The Blue Hens clinched the weekend series after the teams entered the weekend in a three-way tie for second with the Dukes having won nine of the previous 10 meetings. JMU fell to 26-14 overall and 11-9 in the league after its fourth consecutive CAA loss.

The Blue Hens led 6-2 after three innings thanks to a four-run third. The Dukes cut it as close as 7-5 after two in the fifth but the home team pulled away with one in the sixth and two in the seventh.

Delaware had three home runs in the game with second baseman D.J. Long and Ulaky staking the early lead with solo shots in the first. Ulaky finished 3-for-5 with four RBIs while collecting his 11^th homer and 14^th double. Long finished with his solo home run, three walks and three runs scored. Left fielder Pat Dameron was 2-for-4 with a double, two runs and a sacrifice fly.

Corey Crispell earned the win for Delaware with 5 2/3 innings of relief, allowing just two runs on two hits with five strikeouts.

Junior catcher Jake Lowery (Midlothian, Va./Cosby) smacked his 19^th home run of the season for JMU, a two-run shot in the fifth, to reclaim the national lead for the moment. He also tied for fourth-most home runs in a season at JMU. He also singled and scored twice. Sophomore first baseman Matt Tenaglia (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East) also had two hits as the Dukes tallied just seven in the game.

Junior starter Evan Scott (Haymarket, Va./Battlefield) took the loss for JMU after allowing six runs in 2 1/3 innings. Senior James Weiner (Charlottesville, Va./St. Anne's-Belfield) worked a career-long 5 2/3 innings of relief. He allowed four runs, three earned, on five hits.

Delaware claimed the early lead in the first on a leadoff homer by Long to left and a one-out shot to right by Ulaky.

JMU briefly tied it in the third as sophomore outfielder Johnny Bladel (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge) and Lowery hit consecutive singles. With runners on the corners, Bladel scored on a double steal. Lowery moved to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch.

The Blue Hens broke the game open with a four-run third. A single, walk and another single loaded the bases with no outs. Ulaky then delivered the big hit with a bases-clearing double to right center. He was erased on a fielder's choice grounder, but a walk moved a runner back to scoring position and third baseman E.J. Stoltzfus singled to left for a 6-2 lead.

The Dukes got one in the fourth on a double to right by sophomore second baseman Bradley Shaban (Midlothian, Va./Cosby) to score freshman Ty McFarland (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby), but the Hens responded with an unearned run when Long scored from third as center fielder Nick Ferdinand reached on a two-out error.

Lowery's two-run shot to right after a Bladel walk in the fifth made it 7-5, but the Dukes could get no closer. Delaware added a sacrifice fly by Ferdinand in the sixth, a Dave Anderson solo homer in the seventh and a Dameron sacrifice fly in the seventh to clinch the victory.