University of Delaware Athletics
University of Delaware Earns No. 3 Seed, Will Face No. 6 Seed Towson in Opening Round of CAA Baseball Tournament Beginning Wednesday
5/21/2012 6:05:00 PM | Baseball
HARRISONBURG, Va. – The University of Delaware has earned a No. 3 seed in the 2012 Virginia 529 Colonial Athletic Association Baseball Championship and will face the No. 6 seed, Towson University, Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. in the first round of the double-elimination tournament at Veteran's Memorial Park on the campus of James Madison University.
The Blue Hens went 27-25 during the regular season and finished in third place in the league standings with a 17-13 conference mark, the team's highest seed in the tournament since 2007 when the squad advanced to the championship game. Delaware, which has qualified for the CAA Tournament for the first time since the 2009 season, is looking to capture its first-ever CAA Tournament title and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001.
Delaware, led by 12th-year head coach Jim Sherman, features one of the league's top pitching staffs this spring led by starters Corey Crispell (6-4, 3.75 ERA), Eric Young (5-4, 5.11 ERA) and Chad Kuhl (5-4, 4.91 ERA) and relievers Devon Pearson (4-1, 1.61 ERA, six saves) and Stephen Richter (1-1, 3.13 ERA, eight saves).
Offensively, the young Hens are led by junior designated hitter Alex Maruri (.336 batting avg., 2 home runs, 21 RBI), freshman outfielder Tyler Powell (.329, 21 RBI), sophomore first baseman Jimmy Yezzo (.329, 6 HR, 35 RBI), and junior outfielder Nick Ferdinand (.301, 3 HR, 35 RBI).
Towson, which swept James Madison in its final series, finished the regular season with a 15-15 record in the CAA and 26-29 overall to earn the No. 6 seed in the six-team field. The Tigers took two games from Delaware in their three-game set at Bob Hannah Stadium back on Mar. 23-24. Towson is led by pitcher Michael Trionfo (10-3, 3.24 ERA) and offensively by Zach Fisher (.315, 1 HR, 21 RBI) and Brendan Butler (.300, 1 HR, 33 RBI).
Other first round games in the double-elimination tournament on Wednesday feature No. 4 seed George Mason (33-22, 16-14 CAA) facing No. 5 seed VCU (32-23, 15-15 CAA) at 12 noon. The loser of the Delaware-Towson game and of the VCU-George Mason game will meet in an elimination contest Wednesday at 7 p.m.
The winner of the Delaware-Towson game will take on No. 2 seed Hofstra (33-20, 20-10 CAA) on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. while the winner of the VCU-George Mason game will square off against the top seed, UNCW (35-20, 24-6 CAA), at 12 noon.
The tournament continues with three games on Friday, May 25 before the Championship set for Saturday, May 26 at 1 p.m. The winner will receive an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament with the 64-team NCAA field being announced May 28 at 12 noon on ESPNU TV.
Fans unable to attend the CAA Baseball Championships will be able to follow every game through Live Stats and Live Video streaming of the tournament on CAASports.com.
CAA Tournament tickets are available by calling the James Madison University Ticket Office at 540-568-3853 or online through www.jmusports.com. All-session tickets are $35 (chair-back reserved), $25 (adult general admission), and $15 (senior citizen, youth, veterans general admission).
Single-day tickets are $15 (chairback reserved), $10 (adult general admission) and $5 (senior citizen, youth, veterans general admission). Students from participating institutions are admitted free with a valid student ID.
2012 CAA Baseball Tournament Schedule
Wednesday, May 23
Game 1: #4 George Mason vs. #5 VCU – 12 noon
Game 2: #3 Delaware vs. #6 Towson – 3:30 p.m.
Game 3: Loser of G1 vs. Loser of G2 – 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, May 24
Game 4: #1 UNCW vs. G1 winner – 12 noon
Game 5: #2 Hofstra vs. G2 winner – 3:30 p.m.
Game 6: G3 winner vs. Loser of G4/G5 – 7:00 p.m.
Friday, May 25
Game 7: G4 winner vs. G5 winner – 12 noon
Game 8: G6 winner vs. Loser of G4/G5 – 3:30 p.m.
Game 9: G7 loser vs. G8 winner – 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 26
Game 10: G7 winner vs. G9 winner – 1:00 p.m.
Game #11 (if necessary) TBA
