May 24, 2006

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BRONX, NY - A pair of RBI singles in the eighth gave Dayton the offense it needed to support Luke Trubee in a 2-0 win over George Washington on Wednesday on the first day of the 2006 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championships at Fordham University.

With the victory, the third-seeded Flyers (33-22) will face second-seeded St. Bonaventure (26-19) on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. ET. It also marked the second straight season that UD won its opening game of the A-10 Championships.

Trubee, an Honorable Mention All A-10 selection, scattered five hits in a complete game victory. The senior righthander struck out six and walked just one to earn his 30th career win.

"Everbody probably knew that it was going to be that kinda game - a pitching duel," UD Head Coach Tony Vittorio said. "Hats off to (GW starter Derrik) Lutz. We felt like Luke (Trubee) could match up with him and he did that today."

Junior Joe McSoley provided the game winning RBI in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI single to left field. He finished 1-for-4 with two remarkable assists while playing third base.

Senior Roberto Ramos also went 1-for-3 with an RBI single to centerfield for the Flyers, which won despite leaving 10 runners on base during the game.

"It was tough for us to score when we got in scoring position, because of him (Lutz), but late in the game a great at-bat by McSoley and Ramos too," Vittorio commented. "I was just proud of our guys for battling an winning that game."

Trubee took control from the beginning of the game and retired the first eight batters he faced in order.

After Dayton stranded six runners on base after the first three innings, GW threatened in the fourth inning with runners on second and third with one out. However, Trubee struck out the next batter and McSoley made a nice play on a slow roller to third to end the threat.

Defense took over for the next few innings, until Dayton rattled Lutz in the eighth. The GW starter walked the first two Flyer batters, Bryan Chandler and William Benoit, and the pair moved to second and third respectively when Craig Rohren laid down a sacrifice bunt. Then McSoley provided the game-winning RBI on a sinking line drive to left field to send in Chandler and chase Lutz from the mound. After a trip to the bullpen, Ramos lined another RBI single to centerfield and Dayton took a 2-0 lead into the ninth.

Trubee came out of the dugout to pitch the ninth inning and retired the first two batters in order. After the third Colonial reached on a throwing error, Trubee forced a fly ball to right field that was squeezed in the glove of Ramos to secure a 2-0 Flyer victory.