Hutchins' Ninth Inning Blast Lifts Blue Hens over NC A&T

Sunday, February 23

Boiling Springs, NC

10 a.m.

University of Delaware

2-4

North Carolina A&T State University

2-4

Delaware

North Carolina A&T

Photo by: Tim Barbini

Hutchins' Ninth Inning Blast Lifts Blue Hens over NC A&T

2/23/2020 2:04:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Another big day at the plate for Goan as Delaware’s bats heat up

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Junior Jordan Hutchins two-run home run in a tie ball game in the ninth inning was the difference to give the Delaware baseball team a mini sweep of North Carolina A&T, 9-8, Sunday afternoon at John Henry Moss Stadium.

"This is just a great win for our guys and they never gave up on their goal of winning the series," said head coach Jim Sherman. "We had clutch performances out of Greenly and Wakeley out of the pen and can't say enough about Hutchins two-run homer in the ninth."

The Blue Hens were clinging to a 7-6 lead in the sixth inning when freshman Bryce Greenly came out of the bullpen to strand runners on second and third with a strikeout and a fly out to stay in front.

But after a scoreless seventh, the Aggies would tie the game in the eighth as senior Derek Wakeley replaced Greenly with a runner on second and limited the damage retiring the next two batters.

Senior Kyle Baker led-off the ninth and was hit by a pitch and would come around to score on Hutchins big fly to center field. A&T would not go down easy, hitting a solo home run of its own in the home half, but Wakeley would hold the lead and earn his first win of the season.

Senior Jack Goan's red-hot weekend continued with a 3-for-5 day at the plate, scoring two runs while sophomore Joseph Carpenter was 2-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs.

Delaware opened up the scoring in the third inning when freshman Joey Loynd led-off with a double and was eventually brought home when senior Vinny Vaccone grounded out. A&T answered with two runs in the bottom of the third to take a 2-1 lead.

The Blue Hens regained the lead in the fourth inning when Carpenter singled home Baker and freshman Aidan Riley drove home Carpenter and Goan. The bases were loaded for junior John Marti who drew a walk to make it 5-3 Delaware.

Carpenter picked up another RBI in the fifth before Loynd picked up his first career RBI to give Delaware a 7-3 advantage. The Aggies plated three in the fifth, but junior Winston Allen would limit the damage out of the bullpen.

It was a staff day for the Delaware arms with freshman Reece Bolton making his first career start, followed by a scoreless 0.2 of an inning from senior CJ Schaible. Greenly made his debut on the mound, striking out one and allowing one earned run in 2.0 innings before Wakeley finished things off with a pair of strikeouts in 1.2 innings of work.

Delaware now turns its attention to a three-game series to open the home schedule at Bob Hannah Stadium against UMass Lowell. First pitch is scheduled for Friday at 3 p.m. and if the weather permits, it will tie the earliest home game in program history.

For the latest on the Delaware baseball program, follow the Blue Hens on Twitter @DelawareBASE and Instagram @delawarebase and like "Delaware Baseball" on Facebook.

Notes

The last time the Blue Hens took the lead in the ninth inning to win was March 17, 2019 when Delaware had a walk-off win against West Chester.
Freshman Joey Loynd made his first start Saturday at DH and made his first start in the field Sunday at second base while picking up his first career RBI in the fifth inning.
Senior Jack Goan had his third multi-hit game of the weekend and has hits in each game this season, as well as 12 of the last 13 dating back to last season.
The trio of senior Vinny Vaccone, junior Jordan Hutchins and sophomore Joseph Carpenter made its 60^th straight start together. Goan made his 46^th consecutive start.
Hutchins is already half way to his home run total from the 2019 season with two long balls in 2020.
Usually an outfielder, freshman Bryce Greenly made his pitching debut with a strong 2.0 innings of work.
Freshman Reece Bolton made his first career start on the mound.