Saint Joseph's used an early offensive burst and held off a late Delaware rally to claim a 9-8 victory in the Blue Hens' home opener.
The Hawks jumped in front early. After a first-inning run on an error, Saint Joseph's erupted in the second inning, stringing together several hits and plating five runs to put Delaware in an early hole.
York delivered a solo homer in the third, and Brown added a two-run single in the fourth to extend the lead to 9-1. Brown finished with three hits and three RBIs, while York and Hasapis each had multiple hits in the game.
Delaware chipped away beginning with a three-run homer by M. Diamond in the fifth that trimmed the deficit. The Blue Hens mounted a frantic seventh-inning comeback, scoring on a bases-loaded walk, a wild pitch, an error and an RBI single by J. Chandler, but they came up one run short.
Saint Joseph's pitching was a combination effort. Stalica opened with a scoreless inning, Wagner worked two innings (3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K) and Freiwald handled three innings (6 H, 3 R). Farina allowed multiple runs in relief, including a wild pitch that factored into Delaware’s late scoring.
Saint Joseph's finished the game with a multi-hit