Solid start by Nick Spadafino, but Delaware ousted in CAA baseball

Delaware's baseball season ended with a 7-2 loss to top-seeded Northeastern in the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, on Friday.

Nick Spadafino, the senior out of Dover High who began the season as Delaware’s No. 1 starter before struggling, had a strong start. Spadafino was relieved by Colman Vila with Delaware down 1-0 after allowing a single to start the seventh inning. He was charged with another run as the Huskies rallied to scored four in the seventh to go up 5-0. Spadafino (1-5) allowed four hits, walked four, hit a batter and struck out four.

The Blue Hens managed just seven hits, getting on the scoreboard with Calvin Scott’s two-run eighth-inning single. The St. Mark’s grad was 2-for-4 in his final college game.

Northeastern added two ninth-inning runs.

Defending CAA champ and No. 5-seeded Delaware (31-27) had lost to UNC-Wilmington 2-1 and beaten Hofstra 3-1 and Charleston 5-1 before Friday’s defeat.

No. 4-seeded UNCW awaits the winner of Friday night’s Northeastern-Elon game in Saturday’s championship round beginning at 11 a.m.  

McGroarty advances in 1,500 at NCAA East

Delaware senior Liz McGroarty broke her school record while advancing in the 1,500 meters of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field East Preliminary on Thursday at the University of South Florida.

McGoarty clocked a 4:19.52 to place fifth in her heat and move on to Saturday’s NCAA quarterfinals, where the top five in each of two heats and the next two best times advance to the NCAA Championships. It’s the furthest a UD runner has ever advanced at the NCAA level.

Her time ranked 16th of the 24 who advanced among 48 starters.

McGroarty, a 22-year-old Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, resident and Garnet Valley High grad, had run a 4:19.92 earlier this month during the ECAC Championships at Princeton.

Blue Hen teammate Ashley Bailey, the junior out of Middletown High, cleared 12-4¾ in the pole vault Friday morning and finished 32nd. Bailey, who’d qualified for NCAAs with a school-record 13-2½, couldn’t clear three tries at 12-10¾.

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @kevintresolini.