Blauvelt, NY (4/15/06)  The Dominican College baseball team improved their league leading Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) record to 13-2 and their overall record to 24-12 after splitting with Philadelphia University,  this afternoon in a CACC double header held at Veteran's Memorial Park.  The Chargers won the first game 3-1, while the Rams took the second game 6-4 in nine innings.         

In the first game, Philadelphia University took a 1-0 lead in the first as Bill Greary (Hatfield, PA) reached on an error by right field, moved to third on a fly ball out and scored on the RBI single to left field by second basemen Ryan Hayes (Bensalem, PA).

The Chargers rallied in the bottom of the third inning for two runs as sophomore Joe Kubanik (Stony Point, NY) got a lead off single to center field, followed by a single to right by Tom Keegan (Dickson City, PA) to put runners on first and second with one out.  Mike Zani (Goshen, NY) reached on an error by the pitcher to load the bases.  Both Kubanik and Keegan scored on wild pitches to take a 2-1 lead.

Dominican added a run in the bottom of the fifth as Keith Gebert (Brooklyn, NY) singled to center to lead off the inning, stole second and moved to third on a ground out by Jose Escalera (Bronx, NY).  Senior Eliezer Nunez (Brooklyn, NY) hit an RBI single to left to score Gebert and give the Chargers at 3-1 lead.

DC starter Tommy Mejia (Brooklyn, NY) improved to 6-0 with the complete game win, allowing just three hits, while Rams starter Andrew Bednarek (Sea Isle City, NJ) suffered the loss.

In the second game, Philadelphia University jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth as Zach Mentzer (Gettysburg, PA) singled to lead off the inning and then went to third on the double to left by Greg Marcin (Wilmington, DE).  Hayes came through with an RBI single to left to score Mentzer and give the Rams a 1-0 lead.

The Chargers answered back to tie the game 1-1 in the bottom stanza as Escalera got a two out single to right and went to second as Nunez got a free pass.  Escalera came into score on a passed ball as Nunez advanced to third.  Designated hitter Chad Duesler (Northville, NY) walked to load the bases, but the Rams starter Andrew Brewster (Toledo, OH) got out of the jam, getting Kubanik to ground out to end the inning.

Dominican took the lead in the bottom of the fifth as Keegan led off the inning with double to right field and advanced to third on the throwing error by the Rams pitcher as Zani tired to bunt him over.  Zani stole second and freshman Jose Made (Binghamton, NY) came through with an RBI single to left to give the team a 2-1 lead.  Gebert followed with a RBI sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Zani as the Chargers took a 3-1 lead.

The Rams rallied for a run in the sixth as Mentzer and Marcin got back to back walks.  With two outs, Devin Conroy (Pine Bush, NY) took a 2-1 pitch to right field for an RBI single to make the score, 3-2.

In the top of the seventh, Mario Zapicchi (Allentown, NJ) was hit to lead off the inning, went to second on the one out single by Mentzer and to third on the single by Marcin.  Designated hitter Keith Heck (Cherry Hill, NJ) reached on a DC error and advance to second while Zapicchi and Marcin Came in to score to give the Rams a 4-3 lead.

In the DC half of the seventh, Zani got a lead off walk, followed by a double to left by Made which allowed Zani to advanced to third.  The Rams intentionally walked Gebert to load the bases for Escalera who reached on the fielder's choice as the Rams got the out at home.  Nunez hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Made to tie the game at 4-4.

In the top of the ninth, Mentzer led off the inning with a double to left and was moved over to third by Heck.  Hayes got a two out walk and Conroy doubled to center, scoring both Mentzer and Hayes to put the Rams up 6-4.

Philadelphia reliever Mark Peirfy (Trenton, NJ) picked up the win.