No. 1 seed (S) Charleston (33-15, 15-7 MEC) vs No. 3 Seed (N) Notre Dame College (26-24, 20-12 MEC)
Thursday, May 12 – 12:00 p.m. – Beckley, W.Va / Linda K. Epling Stadium

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Tournament Central  
 
CHARLESTON, W.Va – The University of Charleston Baseball team is headed to the Mountain East Conference Tournament for the 5^th straight season. They will look to reclaim their title of MEC Tournament Champions beginning on May 12 at 12 p.m.
 
The Golden Eagles have a history of success in the Mountain East Tournament. They claimed back-to-back MEC Championships in 2018 and 2019 defeating Shepherd University and Notre Dame College in each respective championship game. They will look to continue their record breaking season this week as they take on the No. 3 seed from the South Division in the Falcons of Notre Dame College.
 
Last season, Charleston was knocked out of the tournament after suffering a defeat to Alderson Broaddus on Saturday. They will look to get back on top and continue their regular season success on Thursday.
 
Charleston claimed a regular season title for the second straight season as they finished with a record of 25-7 in MEC play. The title was claimed with a series win over preseason MEC favorite West Virginia State. They scored 33 runs in the final two games of the series on Monday on the heels of 27 hits.
 
This week the team was also awarded a mass of MEC All-Conference selections. Kyle West was awarded MEC's Freshman of the Year for his efforts this season. Three players; Tyler Dellerman, Ethan Soderna, and Colt Webb were named to the first team. Kyle West, Braxton Boddorf, Jordan Bailey, and Eric Chartier were awarded second team All-MEC, and Cole Peschl was named honorable mention.
 
The last few series' of the season were exciting as the Golden Eagles claimed 3-1 series wins over Concord and West Virginia State. They also picked up a midweek game last week against West Virginia University, where they had a lead into the ninth inning but ultimately fell 3-2 on a walk off single to the Mountaineers.
 
The Golden Eagles are led on offense by Dellerman, a redshirt junior catcher out of Maineville, OH who was nothing short of superb in the MEC play this season. Against MEC opponents he racked up a .455 batting average (2^nd), a .864 slugging percentage (2^nd), a .553 on base percentage (4^th), a 1.417 OPS (2^nd), 45 runs scored (Tied 1^st), 50 hits (2^nd), 51 RBI (1^st), 11 doubles (Tied 4^th), 10 home runs (Tied 2^nd), 27 walks (Tied 2^nd), and 7 sacrifice flies (1^st). Overall he is hitting .412 on the season with 11 home runs, 15 doubles, and 61 RBI.
 
On the other side of the battery stands starting pitchers of the likes of Colt Webb, Ethan Soderna, and Owen MacNeil. MacNeil has been dominant in his last two starts. He went 7.0 scoreless innings against Concord while racking up 12 strikeouts. In his next start against West Virginia State he went 6.0 scoreless innings while tallying 10 strikeouts and allowing just one hit. He holds a team best 1.17 WHIP on the season and has racked up an 6-2 record in his eight games started.
 
Soderna leads the team in strikeouts (80) and wins (8) and is holding opponents to a .231 batting average on the season. He's allowed only 10 extra base hits on the season and has walked just 24 in 68.2 innings of work. Webb is leading the team in ERA (3.33) holds a 1.18 WHIP, has 77 strikeouts, and boasts a 6-2 season record.
 
Pitching is a major factor in the MEC tournament as teams must rely on solid starts from starting pitchers in addition to big innings out of the bullpen by relievers. Campbell Spradling and Cole Peschl are two arms out of the UC pen that have performed well up to this point in the season. Spradling, a freshman from Liberty Township, OH has thrown 17.0 innings while striking out 18 and allowing just 7 earned runs. Peschl, a hard throwing right hander from Fairmont, WV is the team leader in saves with 3. In his 20.1 innings he has racked up 24 strikeouts and has walked 8 while giving up 12 earned runs to date.
 
Offensively UC will be led by previously mentioned Dellerman and Braxton Boddorf. Boddorf has a .391 average on the year and has racked up a team leading 63 hits. The Cary, NC native also has 11 doubles, 4 triples and 3 home runs to go along with his .474 on base percentage. He has swiped 19 bags on the year and has scored 43 runs.
 
Pete Costigan will be another key piece to the Charleston offensive success. Costigan, a redshirt senior from Alexandria, VA struggled in the early going of the season. However, in the past month dating back to April 11^th he has raised his season average from .239, all the way up to .291. During that time frame he is 15-35 (.429) with 4 walks and 2 hit by pitch.
 
First pitch is set for 12:00 p.m. at Linda K. Epling Stadium in Beckley, WV.
-UC-