LYNCHBURG, Va. – Jacksonville University baseball came up with an answer to an early deficit and posted crooked numbers in five straight innings to pull away from Liberty and win 11-3 on Saturday night at Liberty Baseball Stadium.
 
The Dolphins (24-20, 10-13) scored 11 unanswered after falling behind 2-0 in the first to even the series with the Flames.
 
The game was delayed two hours and 45 minutes from its scheduled first pitch after initially being pushed from 1 p.m. back to 4 p.m. in the morning, but JU did not appear deterred by the long wait. Chase Malloy and Elias Flowers drew walks to start the game and Christian Coipel smacked a single to right to load the bases. Similar to the final two innings of Friday's game, the Dolphins could not get a clutch hit and ended the first scoreless.
 
Liberty strung together a two-out rally in the bottom half, with a solo home run followed by three consecutive singles to score another run. On the last hit, however, Blake DeLamielleure threw out the runner trying to stretch the single into a double to end the inning with Liberty up 2-0.
 
The Dolphins immediately answered. Jonah Diaz ripped a one-out single to right and Cam Ridley drove him in with a double to center. Chase Malloy followed that up with a single to shallow left to tie the game at two.
 
JU took the lead for good in the third. A leadoff walk to Tommy Joseph followed by consecutive singles by Jake Berg and Jesus Pacheco loaded the bases again. This time, Diaz delivered for the Dolphins. He smacked a single to right to plate one and Ridley followed with a Baltimore Chop to the first base side. The Liberty first baseman and pitcher both went to field the high-bouncing ball, and no one covered the bag, so everyone was safe and JU led 4-2.
 
The runs did not stop there. Coipel walked to leadoff the fourth and DeLamielleure sent a single over the shortstop's head, with a groundout advancing both into scoring position. Berg hit a groundball to short that Coipel tried to score on, but he was thrown out for the second out of the inning. After Pacheco drew a walk to load the bases for the third time in the game, Diaz again produced, shooting a single through the left side to score a run. Ridley then drew a bases loaded walk to drive in another and it was 6-2 after four.
 
The fifth started with pinch-hitter Clayton Hodges taking first on a walk and advancing to second on a groundout. DeLamielleure singled him in, before he stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a groundout to second, pushing the JU lead to 8-2.
 
The sixth was the biggest inning of the night for either team. Pacheco singled to start it, and Diaz walked behind him. Malloy hit a flare to second that froze both runners, and the Liberty second baseman tried to start a double-play by forcing out Diaz at second. His throw was low and bounced into left field, allowing for Pacheco to score and Diaz to take third, while Malloy ended up at second on the error. After Coipel was intentionally walked to load the bases, DeLamielleure came up big again, slashing a two-run single to left and extending the JU lead to 11-2.
 
On the other side of things, the pitching and defense found ways to stifle the Flames on offense all night. Michael Darrell-Hicks made a habit out of stranding baserunners, surrendering just a single in the second and a walk in the third. A leadoff double in the fourth was followed by a pair of strikeouts, before a wild pitch advanced the runner to third and a walk put men at the corners. Again, Darrell-Hicks bore down, getting a pop-up to short to end the inning.
 
The fifth was another Houdini act, as Darrell-Hicks hit the leadoff batter. A 3-6-3 double play on the very next pitch got the first two outs, but a single and walk put two more on, before a groundout to first again stranded men on without a run.
 
After Tyler Naumann came on with two outs in the sixth, he struck out all four batters he faced. Leighton Alley took over in the eighth, walking the first two men, before a pair of flyouts and a strikeout again ended the jam.
 
Layton Perry pitched the ninth, striking out one while allowing a lone run. In all, Liberty left men on in all but two innings and 12 in total.
 
ON DECK
 
The series is on the line when the Dolphins face the Flames on Sunday afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.
 
THREE STRIKES
 

• Cam Ridley, Blake DeLamielleure and Jonah Diaz finished with multiple RBIs. For Ridley, it was his fourth three-RBI game of the year, DeLamielleure collected his 20th of the year and Diaz registered his first since April 19 and fourth overall
• With his two hits tonight, Diaz is now 6-7 with the bases loaded this season
• Jacksonville went 11-27 with runners on (.407) and 8-23 with runners in scoring position (.348)