Chris DelDebbio
Steve McLaughlin
11
Winner Univ. of Hartford HARTFORD 12-5
1
Villanova VU 8-15
Winner
Univ. of Hartford HARTFORD
12-5
11
Final
1
Villanova VU
8-15
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Univ. of Hartford HARTFORD 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 8 11 16 0
Villanova VU 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 1

W: Mellin, Jacob (1-0) L: Doty, R. (1-2)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Hartford Athletics Communications

Ninth Inning Outburst Powers Hawks to 11-1 Win Over Villanova

THE BASICS:

RESULT: Hartford 11, Villanova 1
LOCATION: Villanova Ballpark (Plymouth Meeting, Penn.)
RECORDS: Hartford (12-5, 2-1 AE); Villanova (8-15, 0-0 Big East)

THE LEAD:
A late inning explosion by the bats of the Harford baseball team powered the Hawks to an impressive 11-1 win on the road over Villanova on Thursday afternoon. Ben Bengtson led the charge with a three-run home run, a double and a single for Hartford.

Hawks pitching held Villanova to just one run and four hits in the game. David MacKinnon and Chris DelDebbio each collected three RBIs on two hits, including a two-run double to left by DelDebbio that at the time broke a 1-1 tie in the eighth inning. Each member of the Hartford lineup managed at least one hit on the day.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
  • Aaron Wilson, the Hawks' leadoff hitter, set the table for Hartford in the third inning with a triple to left center. MacKinnon drove in Wilson with a sac fly to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead to start the scoring.
  • The Wildcats tied the game after securing a run on a groundout to tie the score at one. Kevin Tise was solid in his start, tossing 3 1/3 scoreless innings before being relieved by Justin Robarge.
  • The Wildcats threatened to take the lead in the bottom of the fifth when they put two men on with no outs. Robarge battled back to get two outs, and Billy Devito came on in relief and got the final out to end the inning.
  • Devito continued his recent success on the mound, tossing 1 2/3 scoreless innings to keep the Villanova bats quiet. Jacob Mellin came on to pitch for Devito with one out in the seventh and secured the final two outs to keep the score 1-1 through seven frames.
  • With the game tied late in the eighth inning, the Hawks needed a jolt on offense, and DelDebbio came through in the clutch. The senior drilled a two-out, two-run double to left to give the Hawks a 3-1 lead after singles by Wilson and Dalton Ruch started the rally.
  • After Mellin secured two quick outs, Collin Ferguson came on in relief to get another easy out to retire the Wildcats in the eighth.
  • With Hartford in need of some insurance runs in the ninth, the Hawks put together another offensive strike to pull away late. After Bengtson reached base on a single and TJ Ward got on with a hit-by-pitch, Ashton Bardzell bunted the runners over to scoring position with one away. Four straight RBI singles from Billy Walker, Ruch, MacKinnon and DelDebbio extended the advantage to 8-1, giving the Hawks a commanding lead over the Wildcats. Bengtson followed up the barrage of hits with a three-run homer to left to push the lead to 11-1.
  • Ferguson came on in the ninth and hit three batters in a row, but the hurler bounced back to strike out the side and end the ball game. Hartford took the victory 11-1 to extend its winning streak to four.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
  • The Hawks exploded for an eight-run outburst in the ninth inning to take what was a narrow 3-1 lead to 11-1 in just minutes. The amount of runs in the inning was far and away a season high. The last time Hartford had an eight-run inning was in an 18-6 bashing of East Tennessee State on March 9, 2014.
  • Hartford has now collected 16 hits in back-to-back contests, marking the third time this season that the Hawks have collected double figures in hits in back-to-back games
  • The pitching quintuplet of Tise, Robarge, Devito, Mellin, and Ferguson held the Wildcats to just one run on four hits in the game. Villanova failed to muster a hit in the final 4 2/3 innings of the contest.
  • Every Hartford batter managed a hit in the affair for the first time this season. The last time a Hawks team completed that feat was against Bryant on May 13, 2015.

NEXT UP:
The Hawks begin game two of the three-game series tomorrow afternoon by sending RHP David Drouin to the mound to take on the Wildcats at 3:30 p.m. Live stats will be available on HartfordHawks.com. Be sure to check out @HartfordBASE on Twitter for in-game updates and for news about the program.
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