Houston ---- Richard Orange hit two homers and Leo Delgado cranked his fourth grand slam of the season as Houston Baptist University outslugged University of Houston-Victoria 20-14 in the first game of a three-game series on Friday afternoon at Husky Field.
HBU fell behind 2-0 in the first, but quickly tied the game in the bottom half. Ryan Majewski scored on a passed ball and Leo Delgado came around on an RBI single up the middle by Beau Warren.
Orange hit the first of his two dingers in the third, a two-run blast that scored Andrew Taccolini. Eric Schiro made it back-to-back long-balls when he connected to almost the same spot in left center, giving HBU a 5-2 lead.
In the fourth, the Huskies loaded the bases before Orange walked to drive in a run. Eric Schiro then reached on an error at third to score Chad Hebert and Majewski capped the inning with a two-run singled up the middle to make the count 9-2.
The Jaguars cut into the lead with a pair in the top of the fifth, but HBU brought out the heavy metal in the bottom half. HBU connected on three homers in the inning. Orange hit a three-run blast, and was followed two batters later by a two-run job by Majewski. Josh Jackson then finished the frame with a two-run swat to left center and give the Huskies a seemingly insurmountable 16-4 lead.
Victoria wouldn't go away quietly however, and put up 10 runs in its next three at-bats, capped by a two-run homer by David Baker in the seventh and a two-run double by John West in the eighth.
The Huskies would then load the bases in the eighth to bring up Leo Delgado. The junior then deposited the first pitch he saw over the right-field wall for a grand slam to give HBU a 20-14 lead.
HBU banged out 21 hits on the afternoon. It was the second straight game overall and the second straight home game that the Huskies have eclipsed the 20-run mark.
Ryan Majewski went 4-5 with a homer, three runs and four RBI. Andrew Taccolini was 3-5 with three runs.
Orange was 3-5 with two homers, four runs and six RBI. The two dingers pushed his season total to a team-best 14, and drew him one homer from tying the single-season mark of 15 by Jeremy Green in 2003.
Leo Delgado went 2-5 with the grand slam. It was his second straight game to hit a four-run tater, and it was his fourth slam of the season.
John Garey picked up the win in relief, tossing a scoreless inning to up his mark to 2-1 on the season. The Huskies used six pitchers on the afternoon, with Keith Brunson being the final and earning his fifth save of the season.
David Baker was 2-3 with a homer and two runs and three RBI and Leo Garcia was 2-3 and three RBI.
Ray Maldonado takes the loss, dropping to 8-2 on the season. He went three innings and allowed nine runs.
HBU is now 19-22 on the season while UH-V suffers just its third loss of the year, falling to 29-3.
The two teams will finish the series on Saturday with a noon doubleheader. It is the final home date of the year for HBU, which will honor its nine seniors with a short ceremony between games.
