(03-20-08)
Box Score
WILMINGTON, Del. -- Senior pitcher Dan Blake went the distance for the University of New Haven baseball team on Thursday afternoon, allowing just six hits and two earned runs in a 5-2 nine-inning non-conference win over Wilmington (Del.) University.
The teams were supposed to play a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m., but it was shortened to one nine-inning game due to wet field conditions.
Blake improved to 1-2 personally and helped UNH move its record to 4-9 on the season. He threw just 79 pitches to get through nine innings, allowing six hits and two walks while striking out four. He gave up both of his runs in the first inning and worked out of jams in the third, eighth and ninth innings to preserve the victory.
Jimmy Rivas drove in a pair of runs for the Chargers on his second home run of the season in the seventh inning, giving UNH a three-run cushion it would need as Wilmington (3-11) tried to mount a late rally. Wilmington put two men on base in both the eighth and ninth innings, but Blake was able to work out of it both times.
In the eighth, Brian Testa drew a one-out walk and moved to second on an error at second base. But Blake got out of the inning by inducing Mike Wilson into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. In the ninth, an error in center field allowed the first batter Matt Gianni to reach. After two outs, Chris Brooks singled to put runners on the corners and the tying run game to the plate. But Blake got Joe Roth to fly out to center to end the game.
Wilmington had taken a 2-0 lead after the first inning, but UNH tied the contest in the third. Evan Okon walked with one away and moved to third after Rivas reached on an error at second base. Michael Moras made it a 2-1 game with a single, and then Chad Lemos followed with an RBI single to tie the contest. Designated hitter Tom Ballaro put the Chargers ahead for good with a run-scoring single in the next at-bat.
Rivas's two-run homer in the seventh put UNH ahead by a 5-2 margin.
The Chargers open East Coast Conference play in a doubleheader with Mercy College this Saturday, March 22 at noon at Vieira Field.
