Fort Lauderdale, FL (3/12/09)  The Dominican College baseball team lost to Dowling College, 11-9 this afternoon at the Santaluces Sportsplex.

Dowling got on the board early with two runs in the first and broke the game open with three runs a piece in the fourth and fifth innings to go up 8-0.

The Chargers got on the board in the bottom of the fifth putting up four runs to cut the deficit to 8-4.  An RBI single by junior Willie Mann (Patterson, NY) brought home Marc Mortellaro (Middletown, NY) who had reached on a fielder's choice.  A wild pitch allowed Dan Robinson (Massapequa, NY) to score and an RBI single by Jason Berrios (Brooklyn, NY) brought home Mann.

DC added a run in the sixth on a RBI single to left by Mortellaro and tacked on three runs in the ninth on an RBI single to right by Dave Perlleshi (Tuckahoe, NY) and a two run single to center by freshman Nick Simmons (Miami, FL).

Senior Brian Craig (Shenandoah, PA) suffered the loss after allowing eight runs (six earned) on 12 hits in five innings.  Sophomore Dominick Ruscitti (Washingtonville, NY) allowed two runs on four hits and two strikeouts in three innings of relief and freshman Eliezer Cordero (Bridgeport, CT) allowed one run on one hit in the ninth.

With the loss Dominican falls to 1-2 on the season, while Dowling improves to 5-2.

The Chargers are back in action tomorrow when they take on Franklin Pierce University in a double-header at the Santaluces Sports Complex.