Tufano drives home pair of runs

Box Score

RINDGE, N.H. (May 15, 2009) – An RBI single into left-center field by sophomore right fielder Ralph Tufano (Eltingville, N.Y./St. Joseph by the Sea) in the top of the sixth inning on Friday evening proved to be the game-winning hit as fourth-seeded Dowling defeated sixth-seeded Wilmington, 3-2, in the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship East Regional, hosted by Franklin Pierce University, at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field

With the win, Dowling (31-16) will play in an elimination game at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday against top-seeded Dominican. With the loss, Wilmington (28-28) will play in an elimination game at 3 p.m. Saturday against the loser of Friday night’s game between third-seeded Adelphi and fifth-seeded Assumption.

Wilmington opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the third. With one out, freshman second baseman BJ Janney (Rising Sun, Md./Rising Sun) singled to left field, moved around to third on an errant pickoff attempt and scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by junior shortstop JT Gregory (Woodbridge, Va./Garfield).

Dowling scored twice in the top of the fifth inning to take a 2-1 lead which it would not relinquish. Freshman designated hitter Taylor Bargiacchi (Chester, N.J./Northern Highlands) led off, reached on a fielding error by the second baseman and moved around to third on a double down the left-field line by sophomore left fielder Erik Cabrera (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Connetquot). Tufano followed with a sacrifice fly to center to score Bargiacchi and move Cabrera to third. Cabrera in turn scored on a single back through the middle by junior center fielder Frank Intagliata (Franklin Square, N.Y./Frank Carey).

The Golden Lions added a run in the top of the sixth inning to push the lead to 3-1. With one out, junior second baseman Joe Trainor (Massapequa, N.Y./Hofstra Univ.) singled through the middle, moved to second on a single through the left side by Bargiacchi, went to third on a fielder’s choice and scored on an RBI single to left-center field by Tufano.

Wilmington began to mount a rally in the bottom of the ninth inning and closed to within a run at 3-2 on a two-out RBI single through the right side of the infield by sophomore center fielder Matt Botting (Newark, Del./Newark). However, Trainor came from second base to pitch and stranded the tying run at first base by freezing Janney with a fastball on the corner for a game-ending strikeout.

Freshman Nicholas Albero (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) started on the mound and picked up the win (6-1) for Dowling. Over 8.2 innings, he allowed two runs (one earned) on seven hits, walked two, hit two batters and struck out eight. Trainor struck out the only batter he faced to earn his fourth save of the season.

Sophomore left-hander Joe Harris (Douglassvile, Pa./Daniel Boone) tossed a complete game but took the loss (5-6) on the hill for Wilmington. He surrendered three runs (two earned) on 12 hits, walked two and struck out three.