April 9, 2013

Box Score

DOVER, Del. - The Saint Joseph's baseball team got back to .500 on the season, cruising past Delaware State, 8-1, at Soldier Field on Tuesday. Collin Forgey and Chris Hueth had two hits each, while Hueth and Brian O'Keefe each drove in a pair.

Saint Joseph's (16-16) never trailed, going ahead 1-0 in the top half of the first as Forgey led off the game with a single and came in to score on a two-out single by O'Keefe. The hit extended O'Keefe's hitting streak to nine games.

Delaware State (20-10) equalized in the bottom of the third, scoring on a single and an error with two outs.

The Hawks took the lead back in the fourth, capitalizing on a DSU miscue that extended the frame. Hueth reached on a two-out single and Greg Kumpel followed with a groundball that was mishandled by second baseman Cameron Cecil. John Brue made the Hornets pay with a triple to center that scored Hueth and Kumpel and gave the Hawks a 3-1 lead.

SJU tacked on three more in the fifth to extend the lead to 6-1. Quinn Renner led off with a walk before Forgey doubled down the left field line. Stefan Kancylarz followed with a single to plate Renner and chase DSU starter Ryan Haas. With runners on second and third and nobody out, Mike Muha and O'Keefe hit consecutive RBI groundouts to push the margin to five.

Delaware State loaded the bases on three walks with two outs in the bottom half of the inning, but Muha took the mound in relief of James Harrity and struck out Mitchell Moore to end the threat.

Hueth ripped a two-run double with the bases loaded and two down in the eighth to score Renner and Muha to close out the scoring and extend the Hawk advantage to 8-1.

Harrity allowed just the one unearned run on four hits and four walks while striking out two in four and two-thirds innings. Muha earned the win in his first decision of the season, allowing a hit and a walk in an inning and a third. Lansing Veeder, Jack Stover, and Shane Carey finished the game off with a shutout inning apiece.

Haas allowed six runs, four earned, on six hits and one walk, striking out six, in four-plus innings to fall to 0-2.

The Hawks return to Smithson Field on Friday for a weekend set with Atlantic 10 and local rival La Salle. First pitch for the series opener is set for 3:00 p.m. Live stats and streaming audio will be available at SJUHawks.com.