DATE: May 19, 2002

MANTEO, NC -- The University of Delaware baseball team has earned the No. 4 seed in next week's Colonial Athletic Association Baseball Tournament and will take on No. 5 seed George Mason to open the double elimination tournament Tuesday.

Reid Gorecki batted .406 during the regular season for the Blue Hens

Delaware, playing its first season in the CAA, posted an overall record of 34-20 (12-7 CAA ) during the season and earned the No. 4 seed. The Blue Hens will play No. 5 seed George Mason (27-27, 12-7 CAA) in the first round Tuesday, May 21 at 10:30 a.m. at Coy Tillett Sr. Memorial Field in Manteo, NC.

No. 3 seed UNC Wilmington (36-19, 14-7) will take on No. 6 seed Virginia Commonwealth (32-24, 13-8 CAA) in the other first round game Tuesday at 2:15 p.m.

The loser of the Delaware-George Mason game will take on the loser of the UNC Wilmington-VCU game in the first elimination game Wednesday, May 22 at 11:30 a.m.. No. 1 seed James Madison (41-12, 15-5) will take on the Delaware-GMU winner at 3:15 p.m. followed by No. 2 seed and defending champion William & Mary (31-24, 12-9 CAA) taking on the UNC Wilmington-VCU winner at 7 p.m. Delaware's second game will be broadcast on WJBR AM 1290.

The tournament continues until the finals on Saturday, May 25 at 3 p.m. in a game to be broadcast on Comcast Sports Net (Channel 35) in the Delaware Valley. The winner earns an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

Delaware, which has made four straight NCAA Tournament appearances as champion of the America East conference, split its two games with George Mason this season, winning 7-6 on April 19 and losing 14-7 on April 20, both in Fairfax, VA.

The Blue Hens, led by second year head coach Jim Sherman, are paced offensively by junior outfielder Reid Gorecki, who batted .406, hit a team-high 12 home runs, knocked in 49 runs, and stole 29 bases. Also for the Hens, shortstop Kris Dufner hit .362 with seven home runs and 48 stolen bases and outfielder Casey Fahy hit .341 with a CAA-leading 40 stolen bases.