University of Delaware Athletics
Blue Hens Take on Elon in First Round of CAA Tournament Wednesday
5/18/2015 10:51:00 PM | Baseball
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. – The University of Delaware baseball team will begin its postseason Wednesday as the Blue Hens take on Elon in the first game of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament at The Ballpark at Patriots Point.
UD and Elon squared off May 8-10 and the Blue Hens were able to win two of three games against the Phoenix. Jim Sherman. “We had some success against Elon just over a week ago, so the guys are feeling confident for Wednesday's game.”After dropping game one of the series, Delaware won the last two games of the set to earn its lone road series victory of the season.
The No. 5 seeded Hens (23-22, 11-13 CAA) come into the tournament having won six of their last eight games, including back-to-back CAA series wins to close out the regular season.
Greg Olenski leads the Blue Hens with 15 doubles, a .377 batting average, and is tied for the team lead with five home runs.
Zach Lopes had a strong series against the Phoenix, which included a 4-for-6 performance in Delaware's 11-9 victory in game three of the set.
Diaz Nardo, Nick Liggett, and Calvin Scott each posted a home run in the series against the Phoenix, while Tyler Powell registered a round-tripper and four RBI in the three-game set.
The No. 4 seeded Phoenix finished the season having just played one game since losing two out of three to the Hens. Elon fell to East Carolina last Tuesday 7-0 in its final regular season game.
Ryan Cooper leads the Elon (24-27, 13-11 CAA) offense with a .375 batting average and 43 runs scored, while Chris King is the main source of power in the Elon lineup as he leads the squad with 14 home runs and 51 RBI.
Ron Marinaccio will get the start for the Hens, while Nick Beaulac will get the nod for Elon.
First pitch between the Blue Hens and Phoenix is set for 12 p.m. at Charleston's Patriots Point Ballpark. All CAA Tournament games will be live streamed on CAA.tv
HEN SCRATCHINGS
• Wednesday will mark the ninth all-time meeting between Delaware and Elon. The series is tied 4-4.
• The winner of Wednesday's game will square off with No. 1 seed College of Charleston Thursday at 3:30 p.m., while the loser will face the loser of the Northeastern-William & Mary contest in an elimination game Wednesday night.
• Delaware went 2-2 in the CAA Tournament last season and was eliminated by UNCW.
• This season marks the fourth straight year UD has qualified for the postseason.
• Charleston and UNCW earned the top two seeds and will receive a first round bye.
• Marinaccio posted a win in game two of the UD-Elon series as the righty went six innings, allowed four runs, and struck out two.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Joe Wirth | jwirth@udel.edu (email) | 302-831-6519 (office) | 484-883-2804 (cell)
