MADISON (Nj.) – The Delaware Valley University baseball team traveled to take on Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom rival FDU-Florham on Saturday and dropped the first game of a doubleheader, 5-1, and saw a come-from-behind effort fall short in game two as it fell, 13-12. Senior Timmy Lallis shined in game two and reached a career milestone.
The Devils (5-13) scored twice in the bottom of the first to open the scoring and held the Aggies (2-12) to just four hits and one run in the game.
Timmy Lallis drove in the lone run with an RBI double to the opposite field in the third inning and Jared Sterner came in to score.
FDU had seven hits and five walked batters off DelVal starting pitcher Ethan Saxe who did strike out seven in six innings. Devils starting pitcher, Capuano, struck out nine Aggies, walked one, and hit two, and Yurista earned the save with two punchouts in the top of the seventh. Three different players had two-hit games including Moore and Kubas who each hit home runs to center field.
Lallis highlighted game two with a career milestone as he led all players in the game with a 4-for-5 effort at the dish and recorded his 100th career hit.
However, it was FDU that began the game with a big first inning as they scored six runs on two hits and two errors. It added another in the bottom of the second as Moore went deep for the second time on the day to make it a 7-0 game after two.
DelVal responded with five runs on five hits in the top of the third to pull within two. The first three batters reached to load the bases and Ethan Saxe drove one in with a fielder's choice to get the Aggies on the board. Vinny Colavitti followed and cleared the bases with a double and two RBI. Two batters later, Joe Rossi hit his first career home run, a two-run shot, to make it 7-5.
The Devils got two runs back in the next half inning, but in the fourth Lallis doubled and hustled around to score on an error to make it a 9-6 game. FDU put up another two runs in the bottom of the fourth to go back ahead by five.
With two outs in the top of the fifth, Shawn Eldridge hit his first home run of the season of the fence in left field and it was an 11-7 score before the Devils tacked on another in the bottom of the frame to get it back to a five-run differential.
DelVal scored one in the sixth and Rossi hit his second home run of the game in the top of the seventh, a solo shot, to pull the team to within three, 12-9.
A sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh gave FDU a 13-9 lead which it maintained into the ninth.
Trailing by four, Colavitti led off the ninth with his first career home run, a solo shot to left field, but the next two batters were retired and the Aggies still trailed by three with two outs. Eldridge came up next and kept the game alive with a single, and Hank Bielen got a pinch hit double to put runners in scoring position. The next hitter, Jonathan Drews, singled to left and plated both runners to make it a 13-12 game. Brendon Hoagland stepped in as a pinch hitter, but went down swinging and FDU survived with a one-run win.
DelVal had 16 hits in the game including five doubles and four home runs and left six runners on base while the defense recorded four errors. Colavitti and Rossi had three RBI apiece, Lallis drove in one and scored another, and Drews finished with two hits, two RBI, and two runs scored. Eldridge went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI.
Six different pitchers saw the mound for the Aggies and combined for three strikeouts with starter Nate Reed suffering the loss.
