May 21, 2008

Boxscore | Photo Gallery  | 2008 Bracket | Duquesne senior Derek Mechling Post-Game Audio

CAMDEN, N.J - Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Year Derek Mechling went 4-for-4 with three runs scored and Duquesne pounded out a season-high 20 hits as the third-seeded Dukes turned aside No. 6 St. Bonaventure on Wednesday afternoon, 16-6, in the opening round of the 2008 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship at Campbell's Field.

Making its first appearance in the Championship since 2005, Duquesne (25-27-1) will square off against No. 2 seed and defending champion Charlotte (40-14) on Thursday afternoon at 3:30pm. St. Bonaventure (29-23) meets No. 4 Temple at 7:55pm in an elimination game for both teams.

"Our strong point all season long has been hitting the ball and even though the Bonnies jumped out early, our guys stayed in it throughout," said Duquesne head coach Mike Wilson, who guided the Dukes to their highest-ever seed in the Championship.

Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth, the Dukes exploded for seven runs, highlighted by a RBI double by Manley and a two-run single by junior Bill Torre. The Bonnies climbed to within 11-6, however, on a two-run homer by leftfielder T.J. Pennino off Duquesne starter Ryan Juran in the seventh. The Dukes quickly answered with five runs in the bottom of the seventh on six hits, which included triples by shortstop Andrew Heck and junior Anthony Manley, and added a run in the eighth to close out the scoring.

Heck and Manley collected three hits apiece, while Mechling, Manley and leftfielder Mike Carroll each scored three runs. It marked Mechling's second four-hit performance of the season and team-leading 20th multi-hit outing of the year.

"I know we have enough talent in this lineup to get it done and we have some real strong hitters. The guys just stayed with it and got it done," said Mechling, who leads the team with 68 hits on the season.

"We try to take it one game at a time but everyone knows the importance of the game. We have a lot of young guys but they have a lot of experience to draw from."

Juran improved to 7-7 after allowing six runs (five earned) on seven hits in 6.1 innings. The junior righthander walked six and fanned four. Second baseman Kevin Suminski had a team-high two hits and knocked in two for the Bonnies, who claimed their lone A-10 crown in 2004. Senior lefty Cody Vincent (6-6) yielded nine runs on 11 hits in 5.1 innings with three walks and three strikeouts.

For complete coverage of the 2008 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship, log on to www.atlantic10.org