Baseball falls to Dallas Baptist, 3-1 :: Witkowski allows no earned runs in a career-best 7.2 innings

May 10, 2008

DALLAS, Texas - Despite a rusty effort by the Dolphin defense in the first inning after a full day of travelling, sophomore Glenn Witkowski did not allow an earned run while retiring 17 consecutive batters in 7.2 strong innings but the JU baseball team fell to Dallas Baptist, 3-1, Friday evening at Patriot Field.

JU (25-25) allowed three unearned runs in the first inning due to two errors and left a game-high 13 runners on base.

DBU (32-15) managed only five hits in the contest, two of which came in the first inning, but the Patriot pitching staff allowed only four hits for the Dolphins.

"We got a tremendous effort from Glenn tonight but we weren't able to pick him up," said JU head coach Terry Alexander. "He gave us every opportunity to win this game but were weren't able to get the big hit when we needed it."

Witkowski (2-2) took the loss despite scattering five hits and not allowing a walk to go with a career-high tying five strikeouts.

Jordan Meaker (6-1) got the win after allowing one run on three hits with seven walks and four strikeouts in six innings of work. Tyson Bagley notched his ninth save after hurling 2.1 innings of scoreless relief.

Junior designated hitter Jeremy Gillan led the Dolphin offense by going 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI.

Ryan Goins led the Patriots with a 3-for-4 effort at the plate.

The Patriots jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning when Evan Bigley hit an RBI single and two runners scored on a error during a double-steal.

The Dolphins cut the deficit to 3-1 in the top of the seventh when Gillan hit an RBI single to center. Sophomore second baseman Tony Bernazard and senior center fielder Kevin Ferreira drew walks to lead off the inning. After both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by senior shortstop Matt Lopez, Gillan followed with a single just over the head of Austin Knight at short.

JU will conclude its three-game set with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. ET. The game can be followed on GameTracker on JUDolphins.com.