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Blue Hen baseball team rallies to defeat Wilmington

Dave Harden

9:55 a.m., April 28, 2004--The University of Delaware baseball team exploded with a seven-run eighth inning to defeat Wilmington College 7-5 on Tuesday afternoon at Bob Hannah Stadium.

The big hits in the inning included a two-run home run by Brian Valichka and a three-run double by Dave Harden.

The victory was the eighth in the last 10 games for the Fightin’ Blue Hens, who improved to 21-16.

UD will return to action Friday when it opens a three-game Colonial Athletic Association series against James Madison University at Bob Hannah Stadium. The teams will meet at 3 p.m., Friday, and at 1 p.m., Saturday and Sunday.

James Madison comes into the series with a record of 26-13 overall and 7-5 in the CAA, where the Dukes are in third place. UD is 4-7 in conference play.

In Tuesday’s game, Wilmington opened a 5-0 lead with three runs in the top of the fifth and two more in the seventh.

UD bats were relatively quiet until the bottom of the eighth, when Valichka hit his fourth home run of the season to cut the deficit to 5-2.

Ed McDonnell scored on a wild pitch with one out to bring the Hens to within 5-3, and then Harden stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and ripped a three-run double.

Harden came in to score on a double by Kelly Buber, who had two hits to extend his hitting streak to 18 games.

Freshman Billy Harris picked up his second win of the season in relief for the Hens, allowing two hits and two earned runs in two innings of work. Sophomore Joe Coudon worked the ninth for his fifth save of the season.

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