Blue Hens Battle Liberty To The Wire, Fall 5-4 in Game One

Friday, February 22

Lynchburg, VA

3 p.m.

University of Delaware

0-4

Liberty

3-2

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Delaware	0	0	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	4	5	0
Liberty	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	X	5	4	1

Blue Hens Battle Liberty To The Wire, Fall 5-4 in Game One

2/22/2019 8:00:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

LYNCHBURG, Va. – One thing is for sure. This year's University of Delaware baseball team is going to fight and claw until the final out.

That's exactly what the Blue Hens did yet again on Friday in the series opener against a tough Liberty squad, but dropped a hard-fought 5-4 decision to the Flames on a cold, rainy afternoon.

"We all know a loss is a loss, but tonight I saw something out of these young guys. They grinded, they fought, they showed their toughness against a quality opponent," head coach Jim Sherman said. "I'm proud of how we battled, didn't hang our heads and scratched our way back into the game and had a chance to win until the final strike."

Senior Erik Bowren had a big afternoon at the plate for the Blue Hens, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs, a run scored and his first HR of the season.

On the mound, Jack Dubecq, Ari Silverstein and Justin Tomovich combined for 6.1 innings of scoreless relief, allowing just two hits and striking out three over that stretch.

"Billy had another tough outing again, but we all know what type of talent he is and believe in him. We know he's going to bounce back for us. Having the three guys come out of the pen and throw shutout innings was huge for us. It was a big lift and really gave us a chance to win the game," Sherman said.

Liberty got on the board early, capitalizing on some early walks to grab a 5-0 advantage after two innings.

Joseph Carpenter started the top of the third with a single up the middle and two batters later Bowren launched his first home run of the season over the left field wall to make it a 5-2 contest.

Dubecq would keep the Flames off the board, followed by two scoreless frames by Silverstein.

That allowed the Blue Hens to claw even closer in the top of the sixth. Kevin Mohollen led off with a walk and moved to second when Chance DiFebbo laced a single into left field. A miscue by the Liberty pitcher plated one run, followed by an RBI groundout by Jordan Hutchins to make it a one-run game at 5-4.

Liberty would have just two base runners the rest of the game, while Delaware tried to rally late with a leadoff single in the eight by Bowren, but were unable to plate the game-tying run.

The Flames got a save from Evan Brabrand to take game one, 5-4.

Up Next
Delaware and Liberty will face off in the second game of the three-game set on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.