NORWICH, CT – George Washington sophomore Dan Sullivan (Stony Point, NY) allowed a pair of unearned runs on just two hits and retired the final 12 batters in order to lead the six-seeded Colonials past No. 3 Rhode Island, 7-2, in the opening round of the 2003 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship at Dodd Memorial Stadium.
GW (36-16), the defending Conference champions, will face second seed Massachusetts (24-17) on Friday at 4:00. Rhode Island (25-25) will take on No. 4 Duquesne Thursday evening in an elimination game for both teams.
After yielding a leadoff single to Rhode Island SS Mike Rainville (Pawtucket, RI) to start the fifth inning, Sullivan held the Rams hitless over the final five innings to pick up his fourth win of the season.
“Dan was outstanding in his first start in an Atlantic 10 Championship,” said head coach Tom Walter. “He's been the man for us all season, with his only loss coming to [nationally ranked] Georgia Tech at the start of the season. He's established himself as a real go to guy.”
“I got stronger as the game went on and found my curve ball around the fifth inning,” said Sullivan, who notched his fourth complete game of the year. “I had everything working for me and I just tried to have them [URI] put it in play.”
George Washington put a run on the board in the top of the first inning on a RBI double by sophomore OF Anthony Raglani (Indiana, PA), the Conference leader with 19 doubles. It added two more in the second off URI starter Jared Trout (Gilbertsville, PA) on an RBI groundout by senior Travis Crowder (Manassas, VA) and a throwing error by Rams catcher Josh Nestor (Nashua, NH), scoring Geoff Milsom (New York, NY). Raglani finished the day with three hits, as did sophomore 1B Ryan Roberson (Silver Spring, MD).
Taking the hill for Rhode Island (25-25) in its first appearance in the A-10 Championship since 1984, Trout allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits in eight innings with five K's.
For the latest information regarding the 2003 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship, log on to www.atlantic10.org.
