University of Delaware baseball champs headed to Texas

The University of Delaware's baseball team is on a roll and now you can call them conference champions.

They won their first Colonial Athletic Association baseball title and they are now heading to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001.

But there was a second celebration on tap for some of the players: graduation.

On Saturday night, the University of Delaware baseball team clinched the CAA title for the very first time.

"We are excited. We worked really hard for this, to have this be a reality is awesome," senior Burk FitzPatrick said.

The victory came in North Carolina and eight of the players are graduating seniors.

They missed their official commencement ceremony at the university for the game.

"They did miss their graduation, but there's no better place they would rather have been," parent Claire Tierno said.

But before the big game, they walked in a mock graduation at the hotel complete with caps and gowns.

"It was a very special day for all of the seniors. We got to graduate early in the morning, our whole team was there to celebrate with us, all of our parents. And then we get to go out and play in the championship game of the tournament and win that and celebrate with everybody again. It was awesome," senior Jeremy Ake said.

Back in Delaware Monday, the Blue Hens found out which team they will face in the next level of competition.

And Friday, they will be in Texas for the Lubbock Regional, paired with Texas Tech, Arizona and Sam Houston State University

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