Baseball
Duquesne Downs Fordham, 9-4, In The 2005 A-10 Baseball Championship
May 25, 2005
DAYTON, OH - Sophomore Joe Berletic went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI and Duquesne collected 13 hits en route to defeating Fordham, 9-4, on Wednesday in the final contest of the opening round of the 2005 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship.
The fifth-seeded Dukes (21-33) will play on Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m. versus either Dayton, Richmond or George Washington.
Berletic's RBI single in the top of the second was part of a four-run inning, highlighted from two-run single by designated hitter Mike Duganich.
"Joe has been playing hurt all year and missed some time so it was good to see him able to play in the Championship and help us win," said Duquesne head coach Mike Wilson.
Duquesne upped its lead to 6-0 in the fifth with a pair of unearned runs off Fordham starter Cory Riordan (10-4). However, the Rams rallied for four runs in the bottom of the sixth as senior Jeremy Bourgeois and catcher John Mollicone laced doubles off Duquesne starter Scott Chisholm.
The Dukes answered right back in the top half of the seventh with three runs on four hits, including Berletic's second RBI single of the contest, and sophomore Alex Sharick tossed 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to close out the win. Chisholm allowed four runs on nine hits in 7 2/3 innings while striking out nine.
"Scott's been solid for us all year long and it was big for him to get it done and carry us," said Wilson. "One guy can make a difference and Scott was on of those guys."
Riordan, the A-10 Rookie of the Year, had his streak of 25 scoreless innings snapped after yielding six runs (four earned) in 4 2/3 innings for the Rams, who were plagued by six errors. Fordham ended its season with a record of 34-21, the program's most wins since 1997, when it also finished with 34 victories.
For complete coverage of the 2005 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship, log on to www.atlantic10.org.
