Ohio Dominican Defeats Fisher (Mass.) in Opening Round of the NAIA East Coast Super Regional Tournament :: ODU can advance to World Series with Game 2 win tomorrow

	ODU's Vince Doster (at home plate) knocked out his first homer this year to open up the game

May 15, 2008

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COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio Dominican baseball team came one step closer to making their sixth appearance in the NAIA World Series on Thursday (May 15) as they thrashed visiting Fisher (Mass.) College, 11-1 in the East Coast Super Regionals. The Panthers take a one game advantage in the best-of-three series that will decide the region representative in the 52nd NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho on May 23-30.

The opening round game started out as a pitchers duel as neither team was able to figure out their oppositions starting pitchers as ODU's Jonathan Kountis (Akron, OH) and Evan Tardugno of Fisher cruised through the first two innings.

The Ohio Dominican fireworks would start from there as they touched up Tardugno for two runs in the third. In the fourth ODU tacked on three more runs when Jose Avila (Potomac, MD) started a rally with a leadoff walk. Matt Shiring (Decatur, Illinois) followed with a single and KC Warden (Westerville, OH) ground out to the right side advancing both runs and the Panthers were in business. Back-to-back singles by Brian Packo (St. Augustine, FL) and Vince Doster (Lanham, MD) would score Avila and Shiring and after a ground ball Packo would score himself to give ODU the 5-0 advantage.

Kountis would continue to mow through the Fisher line-up as he continued to show great command and retire the side in order the first three innings.

ODU kept the pressure on the Falcons in the fourth as another big inning would give the home team a comfortable lead. Greg Riesenberg (Loveland, OH) collected his first hit of the day with a lead-off single that started a four run borage that was capped off by a 2-run homerun by Doster, his first of the season.

Fisher threatened in the seventh, but Kountis came up big again for the Panthers as he allowed just one run. Kountis would pitch through the mercy rule shortened opening round game unscathed as he went all eight innings allowing one run on five hits, while fanning eight.

ODU added a run in the seventh of their own and another in the eighth to take the game 11-1. Packo continued his terror through the post season as he went 2-for-2 with two runs scored and two RBI's. Avila was also 2-for-2 with three runs scored and walked three times. Doster went 3-for-5, including the two run blast in the fifth inning.

Ohio Dominican and Fisher will return to Panther Valley on Friday, May 16 at 1 p.m. for the second game of the Super Regional.