Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell

NEWARK, Del. – The University of Delaware baseball team will begin its fall season on September 17 when the Blue Hens compete in the first of their 14 intra-squad scrimmages this year, head coach Jim Sherman announced today.

Along with the intra-squad contests, Delaware will also battle two other colleges during its fall campaign. On October 2, the Hens will take on Harford Community College, while they will square off with local rival Wilmington University on October 23.

All games will be held at Bob Hannah Stadium and are slated to begin at 3 p.m.

As usual, Delaware will cap its fall schedule by playing a three-game intra-squad Blue-Grey World Series. Game one will be held on October 15, while the final two contests are scheduled for October 16 and 20, respectively.

Entering the 2010 season, Delaware will be led by a strong corps of upperclassmen. Seniors Ryan Cuneo and Carlos Alonso will anchor the corner infield positions after both posted strong years last season. Cuneo finished 2009 ranked second in the conference with 17 home runs, while Alonso ranked among the top-10 in the league in batting average, on-base percentage, hits, runs, and doubles.

The pitching staff will be anchored by senior Brian Rorick (above), who led the CAA with 95 strikeouts in 91 innings of work last year. Rich O’Donald, who garnered a spot on the CAA All-Rookie team, also returns following a strong start to his career.

The Hens will kick off their regular season with a four-team, round-robin tournament in Charleston, S.C. from February 19-21.

AGATE:

September
17 - Intra-squad Scrimmage
18 - Intra-squad Scrimmage
22 - Intra-squad Scrimmage
24 - Intra-squad Scrimmage
25 - Intra-squad Scrimmage
29 - Intra-squad Scrimmage

October
1 - Intra-squad Scrimmage
2 - Harford Community College
6 - Intra-squad Scrimmage
8 - Intra-squad Scrimmage
9 - Intra-squad Scrimmage
13 - Intra-squad Scrimmage
15 – Blue/Grey World Series Gm 1
16 - Blue/Grey World Series Gm 2
20 - Blue/Grey World Series Gm 3
23 - Wilmington University