May 21, 2008

Box Score

Duquesne's baseball team won its opening round Atlantic 10 Championship game versus St. Bonaventure, 16-6 Wednesday afternoon at Campbell's Field in Camden, N.J. The third-seeded Dukes will now face second-seeded Charlotte in the quarterfinals, Thursday at 3:30 pm.

St. Bonaventure jumped to an early, 3-0 first-inning lead, but the Dukes responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the first to keep the game close. After exchanging single runs with the Bonnies and trailing, 4-3, the Red and Blue exploded for seven runs in the sixth inning to take a lead they would not relinquish and added five insurance runs in the seventh to seal the deal.

Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Derek Mechling lived up to his billing, going 4-4 with a walk, an RBI and three runs scored. Anthony Manley went 3-5 with three RBI and three runs scored, Pat Kimutis went 2-4 with three RBI, Andrew Heck went 3-5 with two runs scored, Bill Torre went 2-5 with a run and three RBI and Mark Tracy went 2-3 with a run and two RBI.

Ryan Juran picked up his team-leading seventh victory, making him the first Duke since 2002 to record seven wins. He tossed 6 1/3 innings, allowed seven hits and struck out four. Freshman Matt Passauer hurled the final 2 2/3 scoreless innings.

NOTES: The Dukes had a season-high 20 hits ... 10 different Dukes had hits in the game ... the victory marks the first time in four tries that Duquesne has won its opening game at A-10's.