Purple Knights Fall Just Short Of ECC Baseball Title

Brookhaven, N.Y.-Dowling's JJ Bessell and Nicholas Albero combined on a two-hit shutout as the Dowling College Golden Lions defeated the University of Bridgeport Purple Knights, 1-0, in the title game of the 2011 East Coast Conference Baseball Tournament on Saturday afternoon.  Bridgeport forced the two teams to play a deciding game with a 2-1 win over Dowling earlier in the day, as the team worked its way all the back to the title game through the tournament's losers bracket after dropping a 14-7 decision on Thursday.  Dowling moves on to the NCAA Division II Championship Tournament with a 25-24 record.  UB is a school season-season best 31-14.

Dowling scored the only run in the game on an RBI single by Brian Ferguson in the top of the fifth inning.

Junior Matt Bartolomei (Stratford, Conn.) was the hard-luck loser for Bridgeport.  Matt is 5-4 on the season after allowing only one run on six hits with one walk and two strike outs in six innings pitched.

Bessell worked the first eight innings for Dowling allowing only two hits to raise his season record to 5-4, and Albero worked a 1-2-3 ninth to record his third save of the year.

Juniors Matt Ranaudo (Milford, Conn.) and Kyle Trudeau (Branford, Conn.) had the only hits for UB in the title game.

Said head coach John Anquillare, "I'm so proud of this team even though we can up just short of the ECC title.  These guys did things no other team in school history did by winning 31 games and have set the tone for our program to make noise in the years to come.  They all should hold their heads high."