NEW CASTLE, Del. - The Caldwell College baseball team lost to fourth-seeded Dominican College, 12-11 in the first round of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament Thursday afternoon at Wilson Field in New Castle, Del. The top-seeded Cougars, who are now 22-12 on the season, will play Felician College in an elimination game on Friday, May 11 at Frawley Stadium in Wilmington, Del., beginning at 12:00 p.m.

The Cougars took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when freshman Adric Saxon (Coral Springs, FL/Broward CC) doubled home junior Tommy Murphy (Monroe, NY/Washingtonville). But in the top of the third, the Chargers put six runs on the scoreboard on six hits to grab a 6-1 advantage. Caldwell answered in a big way in the bottom of the third. Murphy, right, hit a one-out single, advanced to third on a single by freshman Raymond Keelan (Barnegat, NJ/Southern Regional) and came home on Saxon's sacrifice fly. Senior Billy Ryan (Toms River, NJ/Manchester) followed with a two-run home run that made the score 6-4. After junior Chris Chiarappa (Elmont, NY/Holy Trinity) doubled, sophomore Jorge Torres (Coral Springs, FL/Taravella) hit his sixth home run of the season to tie the game at 6-6.

Dominican regained the lead with three more runs in the top of the fourth, including Tommy Maloney's two-run home run, for a 9-6 advantage. Murphy cut the Cougars' deficit to 9-8 with a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth for his third straight hit. Then in the bottom of the seventh, Saxon's two-run triple brought home Murphy and Keelan to put Caldwell back on top 10-9. Again the Chargers responded in the top of the eighth with Jose Escalera's two-run homer that made the score 11-10 Dominican. An unearned run later in the eighth gave the Chargers a 12-10 lead. Saxon pulled the Cougars to within one with a run-scoring single for his fifth RBI on the day. But the Cougars managed just one hit in the bottom of the ninth to drop into the consolation bracket.

Murphy went 4 for 5, reached base five times and scored four runs for Caldwell. Saxon, left, finished 3 for 4, while Keelan and freshman Omar Velazquez (Astoria, NY/Long Island City) each had two hits. Sophomore starter Stephen Pfeil (Hampstead, NH/Pinherton Academy) took the loss, allowing nine runs on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings. Maloney, Escalera and Brian Smith each had three hits for Dominican, who advance to play second-seeded Wilmington College at 3:00 p.m. Friday at Frawley Stadium.

The winner of the Caldwell/Felician game will play the loser of the Wilmington/Dominican game at 6:00 p.m. Friday at Frawley Stadium. Here is the remaining schedule for the 2007 CACC Baseball Tournament: