RINDGE, NH (May 17, 2009) - Dominican College and Wilmington University were eliminated from the NCAA Division II East Region Baseball Tournament Saturday after both squandered late-inning leads in Rindge, N.H. at Franklin Pierce University. Top seeded Dominican suffered a tough, 4-3 loss to No. 4 Dowling, while No. 6 Wilmington fell 9-6 to No. 3 Adelphi.

Dominican was eliminated after Dowling plated three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to steal the game from the Chargers in the 4-3 final. Junior Willie Mann (Patterson, N.J./Brewster) was the lone Dominican player with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a double and RBI. Sophomore Michael Munoz (Bronx, N.Y./Lehman) hit 1-for-2 with a double, a run scored and RBI.

Freshman Justin Moore (Wantagh, N.Y./Macarthur), the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Rookie of the Year, suffered the loss (1-1) with the blown save for Dominican, surrendering three earned runs on four hits in a third of an inning. Junior Todd Craig (Shenandoah, Pa./Lackawanna College) didn’t receive a decision after allowing one unearned run on eight hits with six strikeouts and five walks over eight innings of work.

Dominican concludes the season with a 38-14 record, which included a CACC Regular-Season Championship and the top seed for the East Regional.

Wilmington opened the day with a 10-1 victory over No. 5 Assumption College in an elimination game. Junior lefthander Cameron Saienni (Wilmington, Del./McKean) allowed just an unearned run while scattering seven hits and a walk with six strikeouts over 6.1 innings to earn the win. Junior JT Gregory (Woodbridge, Va./Garfield) collected his fourth save of the season and third this postseason, allowing just a hit and a walk over two scoreless innings of relief. Gregory also hit 2-for-5 with a double and two runs scored.

Sophomore Drew Anusky (National Park, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) paced the Wildcats offense, hitting 3-for-5 with a double, one run scored and three RBI. Sophomore Matt Botting (Newark, Del./Newark) was 3-for-4 with a home run and two runs scored, while sophomore Matt Umba (Woodbury, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) batted 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles, runs scored and RBI.

The game was close throughout until Wilmington broke it open with a seven-run ninth. Umba had an RBI double down the right field line, Anusky followed with a two-run double to right and freshman Mike Godwin (Hockessin, Del./A.I. duPont) laced a two-run triple to right center.

Wilmington faced Adelphi in the last game of the day and lost after the Panthers tallied five runs in the eighth and four more in the ninth to pull out the 9-6 win. Trailing 2-0 in the top of the eighth, Adelphi junior Justin Ciamillo blasted a grand slam to help give his team a 5-2 lead. However, Wilmington answered with three in the bottom of the frame. After the bases were loaded with a single, a hit batsman and a walk, Anusky clubbed a ball that clanged off the fence in left-center field, narrowly missing a grand slam of his own. Instead, the shot was a three-run, bases-clearing double to tie the game at 5-5. However, Adelphi plated four more runs in the ninth to seal the victory.

Wilmington concludes the season with a 29-29 record and a CACC Tournament Championship.