NEWARK, Del. – The University of Delaware baseball team broke a 1-1 tie in the fourth inning and slowly built on its lead as it defeated Mason, 7-1, on Saturday afternoon at Bob Hannah Stadium.

With the loss, the Patriots fell to 12-19 overall and 4-10 in the CAA, while Delaware improved to 21-8 and 8-3 in the conference and extended its winning streak to 11 games.

Delaware registered the first runs of the game, as Joe Giacchino led off with a triple and scored on a wild pitch to put the Blue Hens ahead, 1-0, in the first.

Sharing duties as the starting pitcher and designated hitter, Anthony Montefusco helped his own cause in the top of the second, leading off with a double, advancing to third on a groundout by Derek Evans and scoring on a wild pitch to tie the game, 1-1.

UD grabbed the lead back in the fourth, putting two runners on before EJ Stoltzfus and Ty Warrington connected on back-to-back RBI hits to bring in two runs and put the Blue Hens ahead, 3-1.

Padding the lead in the sixth and seventh, Delaware tacked on four more runs. A sac fly by Stoltzfus and a single through the right side from Brock Niggebrugge in the sixth put two on the board before Nick Ferdinand blasted a two run home run over the left field wall in the seventh, leaving the scoreboard at 7-1.

Montefusco and Josh Leemhuis both finished the day 2-for-4. Montefusco worked 7.0 innings on the mound, allowing seven runs (six earned) on eight hits with three walks and nine strikeouts in the loss. Chris Payne threw the final inning for the Patriots with one walk.

Adam Davis picked up the win, working 6.2 innings and allowing a run on seven hits with a walk and four strikeouts. Ferdinand went 2-for-3 with two RBI's, while Stoltzfus was 1-for-2 with two RBI's.

The Patriots and Blue Hens wrap up the series tomorrow at 1:00 p.m.