NEW CASTLE, Del. - - The Wilmington University baseball team starts the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament on Thursday looking for its fourth straight tournament crown. The Tournament will be hosted in its entirety at Wilson Field.

The Wildcats (37-7-1 overall) earned the top seed in the tournament with a 17-3 CACC record on the season and will square off against fifth seeded Dominican (21-22 overall) who defeated fourth seeded Chestnut Hill, 9-5, in the first round last Saturday.

The Tournament begins Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. with the need to get three games in at Wilson Field before darkness sets. The Wildcats and Chargers kick off the double-elimination style tournament in that first game on Thursday.

Links to follow the CACC Tournament:

Live Video/Audio (all games): www.collegetvticket.com

Live Stats (all games): wilmu.edu/athletics/livestats/baseball/xlive.htm

CACC Tournament Central: caccathletics.org/sports/bsb/2013-14/championship

Scouting the No. 1 Wilmington University Wildcats:

The Wildcats swept the Chargers at Wilson Field on April 26 to capture their second straight CACC Regular Season Title, receiving a bye in the tournament's first round games this past Saturday.

Wilmington is riding a six-game winning streak but has not played since April 18 when they defeated NCAA Division I and in-state foe Delaware, 9-3. The Wildcats are 8-2 in their last 10 games overall, with the only losses coming at Shippensburg on April 21.

The All-CACC teams were announced on Tuesday and the Wildcats placed eight student-athletes on the list, second only to Felician's nine student-athlete who were honored.

Matt Lopes (catcher), Josh Hampton (3B), Frank Samluk (Util.), Jamie Treml (SP), and Tyler Fries (RP) were named First Team All-CACC while Josh Swirchak (SS), Sam Goines (OF), and Rob Gore (SP) were named Second Team All-CACC.

Swirchak leads the CACC with a .389 batting average while Lopes is second with a .388 batting average. Hampton only trails a pair of Felician players and is fifth with a .358 batting average on the season. Samluk rounds out the Top-10 in the CACC with a .339 average on the year.

Goines is second in the CACC with 40 RBI, trailing only Felician's Scott De Jong's 45. Hampton sits in seventh with 30 RBI on the season.

As a team, the Wildcats are hitting 15 points pointer than the next team, hitting .311 on the season as a whole. They also lead the CACC with a .384 on-base percentage and a .412 slugging percentage. The Wildcats' 81 doubles lead the CACC by 13 two-baggers, while their 221 RBI are second in the conference. Their 180 strikeouts are 24 fewer than anyone else in the league as well.

On the hill, Treml leads the CACC with eight wins and a 0.79 earned run average while Gore is fourth at 1.79. Ray Gambone and Samluk are tied for fifth in the CACC with a 1.84 ERA. Fries has a CACC high six saves while striking out an average of 12.46 batters per nine innings.

The team's 2.35 earned run average is lowest in the CACC, with Felician's 2.90 in second place. All other CACC teams carry an ERA over 4.00. The Wildcats strikeout 8.59 batters per game, leading the CACC as well. In 40 games, the team has only allowed 92 earned runs, walking a minimal 117 walks on the year.

Scouting the No. 5 Dominican College Chargers:

The Chargers (21-22) earned the No. 5 seed in the tournament with an 11-9 CACC record during the regular season. They advanced to the double-elimination portion of the tournament with a 9-5 victory over Chestnut Hill on Saturday.

In the elimination game against the Griffins, the Chargers broke a 3-3 tie with a three-run seventh. After the Griffins scored two in the eighth to cut it to a 6-5 advantage, the Chargers put three more runs on the board in the top of the ninth to close out the win.

First baseman Carlos Lopez hit a two-run double in the ninth to add insurance runs for the Chargers, leading the team with a 3-for-5 performance, scoring three runs as well.

Dominican placed three players on All-CACC teams, led by freshman Jayson Gray's CACC Rookie of the Year performance. Catcher Tyler Clark and Gray were named Second Team All-CACC while starting pitcher Ryan Calby earned Honorable Mention honors.

Calby pitched on Saturday for the Chargers, picking up the win in 7.1 innings of work. He struck out eight while only walking one, giving up five runs on seven hits. He is now 6-2 on the year. Anthony Pastrana picked up his first save of the year with 1.2 innings of relief, striking out two while only allowing two hits.

Robert Alonso leads the team with 36 RBI, placing him third in the CACC while Lopez has knocked in a CACC fifth best 32 on the year. Gray has nearly doubled everyone in stolen basses this season, leading the CACC with 41 swiped bags.

On the hill, Calby leads the CACC with 75 strikeouts while Brett Schneider is tied for seventh with 57 whiffs. Pastrana ranks ninth in the CACC with 56 strikeouts as well for the Chargers.

Dominican catcher Tyler Clark has an outstanding arm, helping to hold the holding game against the Chargers. The Chargers lead the CACC with throwing out 26 would-be base runners with Clark throwing out 20 runners. Base runners are 41-for-61 against Clark.

Wilmington in the CACC Tournament:

2005 (1-2): # 4 Wilmington def. #1 NJIT 7-1; #2 Dominican def. #4 Wilmington 6-1; #1 NJIT def. #4 Wilmington 6-3
2006 (0-2): #3 Bloomfield def. #2 Wilmington 6-2; #1 Dominican def. def. #2 Wilmington 2-1
2007 (3-0): #2 Wilmington def. #3 Felician 14-11; #2 Wilmington def. #4 Dominican, 1-0 #2 Wilmington def. #1 Caldwell 10-7 (Championship)
2008: DNP
2009 (3-0): #3 Wilmington def. #2 Bloomfield 12-7; #3 Wilmington def. #4 Nyack 6-3; #3 Wilmington def. #1 Dominican 5-4 (Championship)
2010 (1-2): #5 Post def. #1 Wilmington 4-2; #1 Wilmington def. #3 Felician 4-0; ; #5 Post def. #1 Wilmington 8-4
2011 (3-0): #2 Wilmington def. #3 Post 9-0; #2 Wilmington def. #1 Dominican 3-0; #2 Wilmington def. #1 Dominican 10-3 (Championship)
2012 (3-0): #2 Wilmington def. #3 Dominican 1-0; #2 Wilmington def. Felician 4-2; #2 Wilmington def. #1 Felician 1-0 (Championship)
2013 (3-0): #1 Wilmington 5 def. #5 Felician 4; #1 Wilmington def. #6 Chestnut Hill 10-0; #1 Wilmington def. #6 Chestnut Hill 15-0 (Championship)

Overall: 17-6

Season Series vs. CACC Double Elimination Tournament Participants:

#1 Wilmington University Wildcats
#2 Felician College Golden Falcons: 1-1 away (0-2 and 1-0)
#5 Dominican College Chargers: 2-0 home (7-4 and 4-3)
#6 Post University Eagles: 2-0 home (6-0 and 6-3)

2014 CACC Baseball Tournament Game Schedule:

Saturday, May 3 on campus sites – Single Elimination
#6 Post def. #3 Nyack, 6-0
#5 Dominican def. #4 Chestnut Hill, 9-5

Thursday, May 8 at Wilson Field (New Castle, Del.) – Double Elimination
Game 1: 8:30 am - #5 Dominican at #1 Wilmington
Game 2: 11:30 am - #6 Post at #2 Felician
Game 3: 2:30 pm – Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser

Friday, May 9 at Wilson Field (New Castle, Del.)
Game 4: 11:00 am – Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner
Game 5: 2:30 pm – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser

Saturday, May 10, at Wilson Field (New Castle, Del.)
Game 6: 11:00 am – Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner
Game 7 (if nec.): 2:30 pm – Game 6 Winner vs. Game 6 Loer