Press Release Written by Nathan Foltz

NEWARK, Del. - - The Wilmington University baseball team is looking to defend its title, as the Wildcats are the reigning Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament Champions. The Wildcats are making their 17th straight appearance in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament in 2026, this year as the No. 1 seed after winning the CACC Regular Season Championship. The 2026 tournament will be hosted by Post University in Waterbury, Connecticut.

The Wildcats won the CACC in 2026 with a 25-8 CACC record, only losing one regular season conference series all year. They will square off against Bridgeport, the No. 8 seed, in the first round on Friday in the best-of-three play-in series.

The Wildcats are looking for their 11th CACC Tournament Championship in 2026, having won the postseason championship in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2025.

Location of 2026 CACC Tournament First Round:
Wilson Field
156a North DuPont Highway
New Castle, DE 19720

Location of 2026 CACC Tournament:
Municipal Stadium
1200 Watertown Ave.
Waterbury, CT 06708

Admission for CACC Tournament:
CASH ONLY
$10.00 for adults
$5.00 for students, children, and seniors

Links to Follow the CACC Tournament:

• Live Video: https://www.caccnetwork.com/
• Live Stats vs. Bridgeport: https://wildcats.athletics.wilmu.edu/sports/bsb/2025-26/boxscores/20260501_ypjk.xml
• CACC Tournament Central: https://caccathletics.org/tournaments/?id=32

Scouting the No. 1 Wilmington University Wildcats:

The Wildcats begin postseason play with a 34-15 overall record. They are 9-3 in their last 12 games overall.

The team has excelled all year in scoring runs on offense and preventing them on the mound, topping the CACC in runs scored with 413 and in ERA with a 5.32 mark.

Chase Fleming has led the way for them on the bump, finishing the regular season as the conference's qualified ERA leader with a 3.06 while striking out 60 batters in 50.0 innings. Behind him in the starting rotation has been freshman Dylan Potero, who pitched to a stellar 2.40 ERA with 43 Ks in 41.1 innings, and Xavier Cortez, who has been a dependable arm all year by going at least five innings in all nine starts. Looming behind them in the bullpen is Scott Borgmann, one of the conference's most dominant relievers in 2026. He finished the regular season with a 1.22 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP, striking out 62 hitters as a bulk reliever who racked up 44.1 innings of work in 15 appearances, going 5-0 with five saves.

Second baseman Tyler Pirrung sets the tone for the Wildcat lineup out of the two spot, finishing the regular season with an even .400 batting average and getting on base at a nearly 50% clip while sitting tied for second in the CACC with 15 doubles. When he does get on, he's going to run, as he leads the conference and is eighth in Division II with 36 stolen bases en route to becoming Wilmington's all-time leader in stolen bases and runs scored in 2026. He's joined in the lineup by a slew of excellent hitters, highlighted by catcher Brett Walmsley, who ends the regular season as one of the hottest hitters in all of baseball. He came on strong over the last month and a half to enter the playoffs with a conference-leading .423 batting average and fourth-best 1.196 OPS. Cam Trego is one of the other big power threats on the offense, sitting fifth in the conference with 10 home runs and second with five triples.

As a team, the Wildcats are slashing .341/.427/.518 to lead the conference in all three metrics, and are 14th in DII in batting average. Compared to the rest of Division II teams, their 549 hits are 16th most, 21 triples are 5th most, and 147 stolen bases are 11th most, leading the conference in all three. In addition to topping the CACC in ERA, Wilmington leads the way with a 1.50 WHIP and 414 strikeouts. They strike out 9.70 batters per nine innings, 6th in DII, and hold opponents to a CACC-best .244 batting average against. At 8.56, they have allowed the 19th-fewest hits per nine innings in the nation.

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. #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 def. #5 Felician, 5- 4; #1 Wilmington def. #6 Chestnut Hill, 10-0; #1 Wilmington def. #6 Chestnut Hill, 15-0 (Championship)
 2014 (2-2): #5 Dominican def. #1 Wilmington, 5-4; #1 Wilmington def. #6 Post, 5-2; #1 Wilmington def. #5 Dominican, 2-1; #2 Felician def. #1 Wilmington, 8-3 (Championship)
 2015 (3-0): #1 Wilmington def. #4 Dominican, 4-1; #1 Wilmington def. #3 Chestnut Hill, 13-0; #1 Wilmington def. #3 Chestnut Hill, 10-9 (12 inn.) (Championship)
 2016 (0-1): #6 Dominican def. #3 Wilmington, 3-1
 2017 (2-2): #2 Wilmington def. #7 Nyack, 2-1 (11 inn.); #6 Dominican def. #2 Wilmington, 4-0; #2 Wilmington def. #8 Philadelphia, 11-7; #4 Chestnut Hill def. #2 Wilmington, 5-3.
 2018 (5-1): S#2 Wilmington def. N#3 Nyack, 2-0; S#2 Wilmington def. N#1 Post, 5-0; S#1 Felician def. S#2 Wilmington, 6-1; S#2 Wilmington def. N#1 Post, 11-4; S#2 Wilmington def. S#1 Felician, 2-0 (10 inn.); S#2 Wilmington def. S#1 Felician, 8-3.
 2019 (4-0): S#2 Wilmington def. N#3 Nyack, 14-3; S#2 Wilmington def. S#4 Jefferson, 2-1; S#2 Wilmington def. N#2 Dominican, 5-3; #2 Wilmington def. N#2 Dominican, 14-8.
 2020: DNP – COVID-19
 2021 (0-1): S#2 Jefferson def. S#3 Wilmington, 4-1
 2022 (3-1): S#1 Wilmington def. N#2 Felician, 11-8; S#1 Wilmington def. N#1 Post, 12-0; N#1 Post def. S#1 Wilmington, 6-5; S#1 Wilmington def. N#1 Post, 8-6
 2023 (0-2): N#2 Felician def. S#1 Wilmington, 8-2; N#1 Post def. S#1 Wilmington, 7-1
 2024 (0-2): S#2 Goldey-Beacom def. S#3 Wilmington, 7-6; S#2 Goldey-Beacom def. S#3 Wilmington, 4-3
 2025 (5-1): S#2 Wilmington def. S#3 Goldey-Beacom, 14-12; S#3 Goldey-Beacom def. S#2 Wilmington, 8-2; S#2 Wilmington def. S#3 Goldey-Beacom 13-12; S#2 Wilmington def. N#1 Dominican, 22-8; S#2 Wilmington def. N#2 Felician, 20-3

Overall: 41-20

Season and All-Time Records vs. CACC Tournament Participants:
#1 Wilmington University Wildcats
#2 Goldey-Beacom Lightning: 2026 – 2-1 (vs. W 10-4, W 5-0; at L 8-7); All-Time – 21-15; CACC Tournament – 2-3
#3 Thomas Jefferson University Rams: 2026 – 2-1 (at W 7-6, W 7-4; vs. L 14-8); All-Time – 37-26; CACC Tournament – 2-1
#4 Felician University Golden Falcons: 2026 – 2-1 (at L 5-2, W 7-5; vs. W 10-9); All-Time – 39-26; CACC Tournament – 9-3
#5 Post University Eagles: 2026 – 1-2 (vs. L 16-6 (8), W 4-0; at L 14-4 (8)); All-Time – 41-17; CACC Tournament – 6-4
#6 Chestnut Hill College Griffins: 2026 – 2-1 (vs. L 10-8, W 11-8; at W 7-1); All-Time – 43-15; CACC Tournament – 3-1
#7 Holy Family University Tigers: 2026 – 3-0 (at W 11-1 (7), W 5-1; vs. W 16-11); All-Time – 7-3; CACC Tournament – 0-0
#8 University of Bridgeport Purple Knights: 2026 – 2-1 (at L 15-11, W 23-10; vs. W 12-4); All-Time – 13-6; CACC Tournament – 0-0

2026 CACC Baseball Tournament Game Schedule:

Friday, May 1 (Best-of-Three First Round, Day 1)
#1 Wilmington vs. #8 Bridgeport (12:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m.)
#2 Goldey-Beacom vs. #7 Holy Family (12:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m.)
#3 Jefferson vs. #6 Chestnut Hill (12:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m.)
#4 Felician vs. #5 Post (12:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m.)

Saturday, May 2 (Best-of-Three First Round, Day 2 If Necessary)
#1 Wilmington vs. #8 Bridgeport (12:00 p.m.)
#2 Goldey-Beacom vs. #7 Holy Family (1:00 p.m.)
#3 Jefferson vs. #6 Chestnut Hill (12:00 p.m.)
#4 Felician vs. #5 Post (5:30 p.m.)

Double-Elimination Tournament at Post University:

Thursday, May 7 (Day 1)
Game 1 or 2: Bridgeport/Wilmington winner vs.Post/Felician Winner, 11 a.m. or 2 p.m.**
Game 1 or 2: Holy Family/Goldey-Beacom winner vs. Chestnut Hill/Jefferson winner, 11 a.m. or 2 p.m.**
Game 3: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser, 5 p.m. (Elimination Game)

** - Highest remaining seed will play in the day's first game at 11 a.m.

Friday, May 8 (Day 2)
Game 4: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner, 11 a.m.
Game 5: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser, 2 p.m. (Elimination Game)

Saturday, May 9 (Day 3)
Game 6: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, 11 a.m. (Championship Final)
Game 7: If Necessary Game