Baseball Hosts Delaware For Four-Game Series

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Delaware (1-3)	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	3	9	0
The Citadel (1-3)	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	8	0
@ Charleston, S.C. | Joseph P. Riley Park

Pitching
Win: Pearson,Devon (1-0) - Delaware
Loss: Ross White (0-1) - The Citadel
Save: Buckland,Eric (1) - Delaware

Delaware Batting
2B: Mottle,Alex
3B: none
HR: none

The Citadel Batting
2B: none
3B: none
HR: none

full stats

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Delaware (2-5)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	6	1
The Citadel (3-4)	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	X	3	8	0
@ Charleston, S.C. | Joseph P. Riley Park

Pitching
Win: Logan Cribb (1-0) - The Citadel
Loss: Kuhl,Chad (0-2) - Delaware
Save: TJ Clarkson (1) - The Citadel

Delaware Batting
2B: Powell,Tyler
3B: none
HR: none

The Citadel Batting
2B: Joe Jackson; Justin Mackert; Tyler Griffin; Bo Thompson
3B: none
HR: none

full stats

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Delaware (2-3)	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	10	1
The Citadel (1-4)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	2
@ Charleston, S.C. | Joseph P. Riley Park

Pitching
Win: Young,Eric (1-0) - Delaware
Loss: Kevin Connell (0-1) - The Citadel

Delaware Batting
2B: Maruri,Alex
3B: none
HR: none

The Citadel Batting
2B: none
3B: none
HR: none

full stats

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Delaware (2-4)	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	8	13	1
The Citadel (2-4)	7	0	0	2	0	0	1	2	X	12	13	3
@ Charleston, S.C. | Joseph P. Riley Park

Pitching
Win: James Reeves (2-0) - The Citadel
Loss: Soren,Matt (0-2) - Delaware
Save: Zach Sherrill (1) - The Citadel

Delaware Batting
2B: Travalini,Cameron; Ferdinand, Nick
3B: none
HR: Ferdinand, Nick

The Citadel Batting
2B: Joe Jackson; Drew DeKerlegand 2; Tyler Griffin; Bo Thompson; Calvin Orth
3B: none
HR: Bo Thompson

full stats

FULL GAME NOTES

BULLDOGS HOST BLUE HENS FOR FOUR-GAME SERIES
After going 1-2 during the annual Citadel Memorial Challenge presented by the Charleston Crab House, the Bulldogs welcome CAA-member Delaware to Riley Park for a four-game set beginning Thursday night.

The Citadel has won two of the last three in the series. Delaware owns a 5-2 lead in the all-time series and the teams are 2-2 in games played in Charleston. The last time the two squads met, the Bulldogs pulled out an 8-7 victory at Riley Park on February 20, 2010.

SCOUTING DELAWARE
Delaware was swept by Houston in a three-game series last weekend to start the 2012 season with an 0-3 mark. The Blue Hens dropped both games of a Saturday doubleheader by 7-5 and 16-1 scores and then fell 9-2 on Sunday.

UD will be looking to improve on last season, when the Blue Hens went 27-26 overall and finished fifth in the Colonial Athletic Association with a 16-14 league mark. The Blue Hens, led by 12th-year head coach Jim Sherman, returns 15 letterwinners and was picked seventh in the CAA Preseason Coaches Poll last month.

The Blue Hens rely on a pitching staff that returns its top nine ERA leaders from a year ago, including Friday's starter senior RHP Eric Young who started 13 games and went 5-2 with a 4.00 earned run average. Senior righty Corey Crispell will also be a mainstay in the rotation after going 6-3 with a 2.86 ERA in 2011, while senior Devon Pearson, junior Matt Soren and sophomore Chad Kuhl will also battle for spots in the Delaware rotation. The Blue Hen lineup will be paced by junior second baseman D.J. Long, a Preseason All-CAA selection who batted .298 with 65 hits, 20 doubles and 24 RBI a year ago.

A ROUGH START
The Citadel stumbled out of the gate this season, going 1-2 in the season-opening The Citadel Memorial Challenge. The Bulldogs left the tying run 90 feet away with one out in the bottom of the ninth in a 6-5 loss to Towson, then jumped out to any early lead for a 10-7 victory over Richmond. The Citadel looked to have another win wrapped up against Liberty, but gave up seven runs in the ninth, turning a 9-4 lead into an 11-9 defeat. 

TWO SELECTED PRESEASON ALL-SOCON; BULLDOGS PICKED TO FINISH EIGHTH BY MEDIA AND COACHES
Sophomore infielder Drew DeKerlegand was selected to the Southern Conference preseason all-conference first team and senior outfielder Nick Orvin was chosen to the all-conference second team, as voted on by the league's 11 head coaches. 

Last season, DeKerlegand was selected to the SoCon All-Freshman Team after starting all 56 games in 2011 at third base for the Bulldogs and finishing with an average of .317 with 32 runs, 66 hits, 11 doubles, four triples, two homers and 24 RBI to go with 15 walks. The freshman was second on the team in triples, on base percentage and total bases and reached base in the final 16 contests of the season.

Orvin earned first team all-conference in 2011 after being named to the second team in 2010 and to the all-freshman team in 2009. He entered the career top-10 at The Citadel in runs scored last season and sits just three base knocks away from entering the career top-10 in hits. Last season, Orvin batted .320 with 74 hits, 47 runs, 14 doubles, nine home runs, 32 RBI, 23 walks and 19 stolen bases. He led the squad in hits, runs, homers, total bases, slugging percentage, walks and stolen bases in 2011. The centerfielder reached base in the final 23 games of the season.

Georgia Southern swept the top preseason awards, with junior outfielder Victor Roache named SoCon Preseason Player of the Year and junior right-hander Chris Beck as Preseason Pitcher of the Year.

The Citadel was picked to finish eighth in both the coaches' and media preseason polls. The SoCon baseball coaches have selected College of Charleston as the preseason favorite to win the league championship in 2012, while the media representatives who cover the league have chosen Georgia Southern as the conference favorite. The Cougars received six of the 11 possible first-place votes and 93 points in the coaches' balloting, narrowly edging Georgia Southern by a single point. The Eagles were the clear preseason favorite of the league's media, earning 20 of 25 first-place votes and 269 points overall.

A FRESH LOOK
With 18 newcomers this season, The Citadel will feature a new look in several areas this season. The entire middle of the infield will be experiencing their first playing time in college as freshmen Bailey Rush and Johnathan Stokes will battle for the starting spot at short and Mason Davis has grabbed the spot at second. Two freshman are likely to see significant time in starting pitching roles as Kevin Connell and James Reeves toe the rubber. With the loss of a handful of members of the last season's bullpen, several first-year players are expected to contribute in that area as well. 

HOME SWEET HOME
The Citadel will their first 16 games in the friendly confines of Riley Park to start the 2012 season. The Bulldogs don't leave Charleston until March 16 when they travel to Appalachian State. In addition, two of their first three SoCon series of the year will take place at home. 

All four games will be on Bulldog Insider and video streamed with live audio. Live stats will be available for all games as well. A full recap and stats will be posted shortly after the conclusion of each game. For more information, follow us on Twitter at @CitadelBaseball visit the official website at CitadelSports.com.

UP NEXT
The Citadel host Ivy League member Columbia next weekend for a four-game series. The two squads will play Thursday night at 5 p.m., battle in a doubleheader Saturday starting at 12 p.m. and close the series with a Sunday contest at 1 p.m.

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