CofC drops CAA Tournament opener to Delaware, 7-4

MT. PLEASANT, S.C. (May 24, 2023) – Fifth-seeded Delaware overcame an early three-run deficit and defeated #4 Charleston, 7-4, in the first game of the 2023 CAA Baseball Championship on Wednesday afternoon at the Ballpark at Patriots Point.

The Blue Hens (30-27), who are making their first appearance in the tournament since 2018, will face either top-seeded UNCW (3 p.m.) or #2 Elon (7 p.m.) on Thursday depending on the outcome of today’s second game between Northeastern and William & Mary. The Cougars (34-21) will play in an elimination game at 11 a.m. on Thursday against the loser of this afternoon’s contest.

Delaware junior catcher Tyler Leach went 2-for-3 with three RBI’s, including a game-tying single in the fourth and a two-run homer in the sixth that put the Hens ahead for good. Joey Loynd was 2-for-5 with a RBI and Andrew Amato drove in two.

For Charleston, shortstop Cam Dean and designated hitter Tanner Steffy each contributed two hits and knocked in a run. Trotter Harlan was 2-for-4 and scored a run.

Senior Joey Silan (4-2) earned the victory for Delaware after allowing four runs over 6.2 innings. Anthony Gubitosi closed the game by throwing 2.1 scoreless innings with three strikeouts to pick up his third save.

Charleston jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second. Harlan opened the frame with a double to the base of the fence in left and scored on a one-out single by Steffy. A Luke Wood double put a pair of Cougars in scoring position, and both would come home as Dean singled and Khyree Miller delivered a sacrifice fly.

Delaware pulled even in the fourth. The Blue Hens loaded the bases with nobody out after a hit batter and two walks. Amato’s single to right brought in two to trim the Delaware deficit to 3-2, and Leach followed with a game-tying single to left.

Leach came up big again for the Blue Hens in the sixth, launching a two-run homer to left that put Delaware on top, 5-3. It was Leach’s eighth long ball of the year.

Charleston closed to within 5-4 in the seventh on a RBI single from Cam Mathis. The Cougars put runners on the corners with two outs, but Gubitosi came on to work out of the jam and then retired six of the seven batters he faced over the final two innings.

Delaware tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the ninth as Bryce Greenly executed a squeeze bunt to bring in one and Loynd provided a run-scoring single into right.

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