WILMINGTON, NC -- The University of Delaware baseball team will begin its quest for its first Colonial Athletic Association conference championship on Wednesday afternoon with a 3:30 matchup against George Mason University.

The Blue Hens (29-21, 18-11 CAA) finished the regular season in a four-way tie for first place in the CAA and were awarded the second seed based on head-to-head tiebreakers.

This is the fourth time the Hens have qualified for the CAA tournament since joining the league in 2002, and coincidentally have been matched up with George Mason in the first round all four times. The Hens emerged victorious in 2002 and 2004 and fell to the Patriots in 2005.

Delaware has rebounded spectacularly after getting off to a rocky 2-10 start. The Hens are 23-6 since a 13-inning loss to Georgia State on April 1st, including a mark of 15-5 in conference play.

The powerful Delaware offense is led by sophomore infielder Alex Buchholz, who led the Hens with a .391 batting average, .436 on-base percentage, 55 RBI and leads the nation in doubles per game. Senior Bryan Hagerich (right) belted 16 home runs, and Ryan Jablonski and Brandon Menchaca tied for the team lead with 55 runs scored apiece.

The pitching staff has held up its end of the bargain as well, with the team posting a .259 opponents batting averge, the lowest mark since 1995. Senior Billy Harris went 6-0 with a 3.59 ERA in CAA games, and junior closer David Slovak appeared in 31 games, posting Delaware single-season records with 31 appearances and 11 saves. Slovak had a 2.58 ERA and held opponents to a .209 batting average.

The six team, double-elimination tournament begins at 12 noon on Wednesday with No. 1 Old Dominion taking on No. 6 Georgia State. In the nightcap at 7 p.m., No. 3 VCU will take on No. 4 tournament host UNC Wilmington. All games of the tournament will be played at Brooks Field on the campus of UNC Wilmington.