Photos Courtesy of Mark Campbell

Boxscore

NEWARK, Del. – Despite facing long odds entering the final week of the season, the University of Delaware baseball team clinched a berth in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament after posting a 13-4 victory over Virginia Commonwealth to complete a three-game sweep of the Rams at Bob Hannah Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

With the victory, the Blue Hens (27-18, 11-10 CAA) punched their ticket to the CAA playoffs, which will begin on Wednesday in Wilmington, North Carolina. They will enter the tournament as the sixth seed and face regular season champion George Mason at noon on the opening day of action.

On Saturday, Pat Dameron (top right) led an impressive offensive performance by Delaware as the sophomore second baseman went 4-for-5 with five RBI. Ryan Cuneo and Ryan Reed also added two hits and a home run.

As a team, the Hens banged out 17 hits and scored in every inning but the first.

After VCU (20-26, 8-16) opened the scoring and took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second, Delaware quickly answered and knotted the game as Reed led off the bottom of the inning with a screaming solo shot well over the left centerfield fence.

The Rams retook the lead with two runs in the third, but Delaware came back again. After Kyle Davis started the rally with a single to left, Carlos Alonso launched a double off the wall in center. Cuneo followed with an RBI groundout before Chris Nehl lifted a sacrifice fly to right that tied the game at three.

Rich O’Donald (bottom right) kept the Rams off the board in the top of the fourth behind a pair of strikeouts before the Delaware lineup grabbed its first lead of the game in the bottom half of the frame.

Bill Merkler started the inning with a double to deep left. Three batters later, Josh Dean traded places with him after lining his own two-base hit into the gap in left center. Davis then capped the two-run rally with a single to center that gave the Hens a 5-3 advantage.

With the lead in hand, Delaware never looked back. O’Donald remained sharp on the mound, and the offense continued to do consistent damage at the plate.

After O’Donald retired the side in order for the second straight inning, the Hens tacked a three-spot on the board in the bottom of the fifth. Merkler started the rally with an RBI single that plated Nehl. Later, after Shockley reached on a fielder’s choice, Dameron followed with a two-run single to right that extended Delaware’s lead to 8-3.

Still not done, Cuneo added a solo shot in the sixth and Dameron parked a two-run blast in the seventh to give the Hens an 11-3 edge.

Although the offense was the story of the day, Dean made one of the best defensive plays of the year on a line drive by Andrew Dimino in the top of the eighth. The Blue Hen centerfielder tracked the ball into deep right center before diving to make an incredible grab with his out-stretched glove.

VCU eventually scored a run in the eighth following Dean’s impressive glove work, but the team could not overcome its imposing deficit. Later, a bases-loaded walk by Shockley and another RBI by Dameron capped the scoring in the bottom of the eighth.

O’Donald (5-3) earned the win after tossing seven strong innings on the mound. The freshman right-hander allowed just six hits and three runs while striking out four before giving way to Corey Crispell to close out the game.

Six Blue Hens finished with two hits on the day, while each starter recorded at least one. Fittingly, on Senior Day, the upperclassmen came through as Nehl, Reed, Merkler, Shockley, and Davis combined to go 8-for-19 with eight runs scored and five RBI.