Dowling Clips Wilmington, 3-2, At Second Day Of NCAA Championship East Regional
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.