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Delaware 3, UNC Wilmington 2 Rambo Piches Gem,
Valichka Collects Three Hits as Hens Advance to Championship
Game WILMINGTON, NC -- No. 6 seed University of Delaware continued it improbable run through the Colonial Athletic Association Baseball Tournament as the Blue Hens advanced to Saturday's championship game with a 3-2 win over No. 2 seed and host UNC Wilmington Friday afternoon at Brooks Field. The Blue Hens (33-22), who won their fifth straight game for head coach Jim Sherman, scored three runs in the fourth inning to take the lead for good and junior righthander Scott Rambo (7-6) shook off a sore shoulder with an outstanding effort to send Delaware into their first ever CAA championship game. UNC Wilmington had swept the Hens 10-4 and 2-0 during their regular season series April 3 in Newark, DE. Delaware, which opened the CAA Tournament with wins of 8-5 over top seed George Mason Wednesday and 7-3 over No. 4 seed William & Mary Thursday, will play in the championship game Saturday at 1 p.m. against the winner of Friday night's game between UNC Wilmington and George Mason. Should the Hens win that game Saturday, they would earn an automatic berth in the NCAA Regionals which begin next Thursday at eight different sites. If the Hens lose that game, they would play a second game immediately following. The NCAA Tournament pairings will be announced Monday, May 31 at 12 noon live on ESPN2. The Blue Hens, playing in the CAA Tournament for the first time since 2002, are looking to capture their first conference title since winning the America East crown and advancing to the NCAA Tournament in 2001. Delaware has won 27 conference regular season and tournament titles all-time. The Hens scored all the runs they would need in the fourth inning as they scored three times to take the lead for good. Rightfielder Dave Harden opened the inning with a walk of Seahawk starter Zach Booker (2-2) and advanced to second on a single by catcher Brian Valichka, who extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a three-hit day. Leftfielder Ed McDonnell, the Hens' leading hitter at .375, followed with an RBI double to put the Hens on the board and centerfielder Brent Rogers followed with a run-scoring single to up the lead to 2-0. Second baseman Brock Donovan made it three straight hits for the Hens as he followed with a single up the middle to score Rogers. UNC Wilmington managed just two runs off Rambo, getting on the board in the fifth when Chris Hatcher grounded out to score Tim Preston, and pulling to within a run at 3-2 on Preston's fourth home run of the season, a solo shot in the seventh inning. Neal Eichorn led off the ninth for UNCW with a walk, chasing Rambo and bringing Joe Coudon to the mound. Pinch-runner Kenny Smith stole second and moved to third on a sacrifice by Aaron Smith. The Hens came up big on the next batter when Preston chopped a grounder to third base. Delaware third baseman Ryan Graham fielded the ball cleanly and fired to Valichka at the plate to gun down Smith who broke for home on contact. Coudon then got John Raynor to fly out to right field to end the game and earn his seventh save of the season.
Box score (NCAA)
University of Delaware Baseball
UNC Wilmington at Delaware
May 28, 2004 at Wilmington, N.C. (Brooks Field)
UNC Wilmington 2 (35-21)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Grawey cf................ 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
McLean 2b................ 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1
Sutton, M. 1b............ 4 0 1 0 0 1 5 1 0
Eichhorn dh.............. 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
Smith, K. pr............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Smith, A. ss............. 3 0 0 0 0 2 2 4 1
Preston lf............... 4 2 1 1 0 0 1 1 0
White ph................ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Raynor rf................ 2 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 2
Poulk 3b................. 2 0 1 0 0 0 3 1 0
Hatcher c................ 3 0 0 1 0 0 8 3 0
Booker p................. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Moore p................. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 29 2 4 2 3 3 24 12 5
Delaware 3 (33-22)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Graham, Ryan 3b.......... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 1
Davison, Todd ss......... 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0
Van Note, Steve 1b....... 4 0 1 0 0 1 12 0 2
Harden, Dave rf.......... 3 1 1 0 1 1 3 0 0
Buber, Kelly dh.......... 4 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 1
Valichka, Brian c........ 4 0 3 0 0 1 4 1 0
McDonnell, Ed lf......... 3 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0
Hagerich, Bryan lf...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Rogers, Brent cf......... 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 2
Donovan, Brock 2b........ 2 0 1 1 1 1 5 4 0
Rambo, Scott p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Coudon, Joe p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Totals................... 29 3 9 3 2 7 27 15 6
Score by Innings R H E
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UNC Wilmington...... 000 010 100 - 2 4 0
Delaware............ 000 300 00X - 3 9 2
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E - Graham(22); Harden(6). DP - UDEL 1. LOB - UNCW 5; UDEL 6. 2B -
Eichhorn(10); Poulk(12); McDonnell(1). 3B - Harden(3). HR - Preston(4). HBP
- Graham. SH - Smith, A.(4); Poulk(4); Graham(3). SB - Smith, K.(8); Van
Note(18). CS - Hatcher(3); Van Note(5).
UNC Wilmington IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Booker.............. 6.1 8 3 3 2 5 24 28
Moore............... 1.2 1 0 0 0 2 5 5
Delaware IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Rambo, Scott........ 8.0 4 2 1 3 3 27 31
Coudon, Joe......... 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3
Win - Rambo (7-6). Loss - Booker (2-2). Save - Coudon (7).
WP - Booker(3). HBP - by Booker (Graham).
Umpires - HP: Mac Stokes 1B: Bob Gustin 2B: Paul McColgan 3B: Tim O'Toole
Start: 3:28 pm Time: 2:26 Attendance:
Game notes:
Game 8 of 2004 CAA Baseball Championship
No. 6 Delaware (unbeaten) advances to meet UNCW-GMU winner at 1 pm Saturday
No. 2 UNC Wilmington to face No. 1 George Mason at 7 pm Friday
Rambo faced 1 batter in the 9th.
Game: DEL-BB55
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