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CALDWELL AND WILMINGTON SET TO PLAY FOR 2007 CACC BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

May 11, 2007

WILMINGTON, DE - Caldwell College and Wilmington College, the top two seeds in the 2007 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Baseball Tournament, have advanced to the championship round after Friday's action at Frawley Stadium in Wilmington, DE. Caldwell, the top seed, will have to defeat Wilmington twice tomorrow in the double-elimination tournament. Wilmington, by virtue of going 2-0 thus far, will only need one win to take home the title. The first game will begin at noon, with an "if necessary" game slated for 3:00 pm. The winner will receive the CACC's automatic bid to the 2007 NCAA Division II Northeast Region Tournament.

In the final game of the night, Caldwell (24-12) junior catcher Chris Chiarappa singled through the left side of a drawn-in infield in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Cougars a 5-4 victory over #4 Dominican. The Cougars loaded the bases with one out after a walk, a single and an intentional walk. The loss elimitnated the Chargers from the tournament.

Dominican (19-19) trailed 4-1 entering the eighth inning but scored three times to knot the game at four. The Chargers scored two runs on Caldwell fielding errors, along with an RBI single by senior 1B Brian Smith.

Dominican was in position to steal the victory in the top of the 10th inning after putting runners on second and third with nobody out. However, Cougar junior right-hander Tommy Murphy got out of the jam by retiring the next three batters on a groundout, a strikeout and a fly out.

Murphy, who started the game at shortstop, worked the final 2.2 innings and allowed only three hits with two strikeouts to improve to 3-0 this season. Freshman starter Omar Velazquez worked a solid 7.0 innings and surrendered seven hits and two earned runs while fanning seven in getting a no-decision.

Wilmington (28-18) advanced to the championship round behind the pitching of junior right-hander Joe Matterer, who hurled a complete game shutout in a 1-0 victory over Dominican earlier in the day. Wildcat senior right fielder Jason Rust hit a towering home run over the centerfield fence for the only run of the game. It was his 20th homer of the season.

Matterer scattered four hits and fanned five to improve to 12-1 this season. Dominican righty Joe Catanese allowed only five hits and one run while fanning seven in the tough complete-game loss. He is now 2-5 this season.

In the first game of the day, Caldwell eliminated #3 Felician, 11-4. A two-out error by Felician opened the door for a four-run fifth inning for the Cougars, giving Caldwell a 5-1 lead. Caldwell notched four straight hits following the error including doubles by Murphy and freshman 2B Jon Irwin. Freshman right-fielder Adric Saxon provided two more runs in the seventh when he doubled to deep centerfield and advanced to third when Felician attempted to throw out freshman Ray Keelan at home. The throw was wild and Saxon trotted home to make the score 8-1.

Felician (23-26) rallied for three runs in the eighth, but Caldwell responded with three runs of its own in the bottom of the frame to seal the victory.

Caldwell freshman starter Robert Casal went 7.2 innings and allowed seven hits, two runs and four walks with 10 strikeouts in improving to 9-1 on the season.

The full tournament schedule and results are below.

Thursday, May 10 - at Wilson Field

Game 1 - #2 Wilmington 14, #3 Felician 11

Game 2 - #4 Dominican 12, #1 Caldwell 11

Friday, May 11 - at Frawley Stadium

Game 3 ? Caldwell 11, Felician 4

Game 4 ? Wilmington 1, Dominican 0

Game 5 ? Caldwell 5, Dominican 4 (10 innings)

Saturday, May 12 - at Frawley Stadium

Game 6 ? Caldwell vs. Wilmington - Noon

Game 7 - If Necessary Game - 3:00 pm