Box Score (Game 1)

Box Score (Game 2)

DOVER, Del. -- An 11 run outburst and seven run comeback Monday helped the UMES baseball team defeat Delaware State, sweeping both the doubleheader and three game series from the Hornets in a crucial MEAC Northern Division series. With the series sweep the Hawks stand alone atop the division with a 7-2 record, one game ahead of Norfolk State and two ahead of Delaware State.  

The three game sweep marked the first time UMES swept a team from Delaware State in twenty years. The 1995 Hawks won a trio of one run games over the Hornets, en route to winning 25 games.

In the first game of a doubleheader, the Hawks wasted no time in getting their bats hot. Senior Joshua James (Milford, Del.) delivered a single, and sophomore Justin Dattilo (Pittsburgh, Pa.) drew a walk. James would score on a double from senior Greg Turlik (Gaithersburg, Md.) and both he and Dattilo would score on a two RBI single from sophomore Skylar Murray (Georgetown, Del.). With three runs already in, junior Connor Breslin (Saylorsburg, Pa.) sent home Murray to take a commanding 4-0 lead after one-half inning.

With a comfortable edge, senior Chipper Smith (Florence, S.C.) went right to work on the mound. He did concede a run in the first on a sacrifice fly, but did well to keep the Hornets in check throughout the start. He would go six innings to earn the win, giving up three runs, walking three and setting down one Hornet via the strikeout.

UMES continued to pour on the runs in the second. With Turlik on first, freshman Quenton Hamrick (New Castle, Del.) fired a two run home run to left field, extending the Hawks lead to 6-1. The bats went quiet for a couple innings until Dattilo hit his second long shot in as many days, a solo shot that made the score 7-3.

In the eighth the Hawks put up another crooked number. Junior Mike Escanilla (Waldorf, Md.) drew a walk and score on a James single and an error from the Hornets' center fielder. A Dattilo single and a Hamrick walk would follow. Murray drove in both James and Dattilo, and Hamrick would cross the plate on a wild pitch. With the second four run inning, the Hawks led the contest by an 11-3 score.

The lead safely theirs, junior J.P. Black (Elkton, Md.) and freshman Chris Melrath (Rising Sun, Md.) were tasked with finishing the job out of the bullpen. Collectively, the duo set the Hornets down quietly, conceding only one walk while striking out three.

Delaware State took a commanding 6-1 lead in the twilight innings of game two, and it looked like the Hornets would salvage a game and force a tie in the standings. But the Hawks never-say-die reared its head in the fifth. Taking advantage of several walks and hit by pitches, the visitors scored four times, thanks to RBI singles from sophomore Troy Anderson (Bridgeport, W.Va.) and Breslin, along with a bases load walk to sophomore Jordan Martin (Atlanta, Ga.) and an RBI hit by pitch by Escanilla.

All of a sudden, a 6-1 lead had shriveled to 6-5.

However, the Hawks would strand two runners in the sixth and make two quick outs in the seventh. Down to their final out, Escanilla would reach base, steal second and take third on a throwing error. That left it up to James, who promptly laced a double that tied the game. Dattilo would get the game winning RBI by sending James home on a single.

After adding an insurance run, UMES turned to its vaunted bullpen. They had already gotten solid relief from junior Will Turley (Greensboro, Md.) and freshman Toby Hoskins (North East, Md.). Now they turned to junior closer Devin Repine (Salisbury, Md.) to secure a sweep. The Hornets would get two men on, but a double play and a strikeout sealed the deal. Hoskins would get his first collegiate win and Repine picked up his fourth save.

The Hawks will face Towson Tuesday in non-conference action on the other side of the Chesapeake, with a 3:30 p.m. scheduled start time. MEAC play will resume Friday at Coppin State in Glen Burnie.