March 24, 2006

Box Score

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - A pair of home runs led Duquesne to an 8-7 win over St. Bonaventure in the teams' Atlantic 10 Conference baseball opener on Friday afternoon at Duquesne Field.

The Bonnies out-hit Duquesne 14-8 but the two round-trippers by the Dukes plus three St. Bonaventure errors were the difference.

St. Bonaventure opened a 3-0 lead after two innings. Junior first baseman Brian Pellegrini and junior left fielder Joe Rizzo recorded back-to-back RBI doubles in the first. In the second, sophomore center fielder Randy Moley's single scored junior second baseman Kieran Malone.

Duquesne came back with five runs in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead. Derek Mechling started the Dukes' rally with a two-run home run, and Nolan Pena cracked a two-run single later in the frame.

The Bonnies tied the game at 5-5 in the sixth inning. Malone had a run-scoring single and junior third baseman Matt Mardeusz plated the other run with a sacrifice fly. Duquesne, however, came right back in the bottom of the sixth when Pat Kimutis' three-run home run gave the Dukes an 8-5 lead.

The Bonnies trimmed their deficit down to one run by scoring a pair in the seventh. Rizzo started the scoring with his second RBI double of the day. He later scored on a wild pitch. St. Bonaventure could only manage one baserunner over the final two innings, though, against Dukes reliever Adam Haun.

Bonnies senior John Zinnicker went 6-1/3 innings and allowed eight runs - although only four were earned - on eight hits with seven strikeouts. He suffered the loss and fell to 1-2. Matt Agostinelli shut out the Dukes over his 1-2/3 innings on the mound.

Rizzo collected four of St. Bonaventure's hits while Moley had three. Tristan Mulcahy had a pair of hits for the Bonnies, who fell to 4-6. Kimutis had three hits for Duquesne, which is now 4-12.

The Bonnies and Dukes will continue their three-game series on Saturday and Sunday.