Flushing, N.Y. - The Golden Lions repeat as East Coast Conference Baseball Champions with a 7-0 win over the University of Bridgeport Purple Knights this afternoon at Jack Kaiser Stadium on the campus of St. John's University.

The Golden Lions wasted no time with a run in the top of the first inning.  Andrew Abreu led off with a single through the right side and was brought in on an infield hit by Sean Craig.

Dowling added three in the top if the third.  Joseph Candela and JC Brandmaier were hit by pitches and with two outs the UB shortstop airmailed a ball into right field in an attempt to get the runner going to second allowing Candela to score.  A heads up double steal moved the runners up to second and third where Rob Veltre's 2 RBI single to center plated both runners for a 4-0 lead.

DC extended their lead with another run from an RBI by Rob Veltre who drove in Craig who led off the inning with a double to left.  In the top of the ninth, they added a little extra breathing room when Craig's third hit of the day was followed up by a walk to Brandmaier.  Another double steal put both runners in scoring postion where a groundball by Ian Schneider and a wild pitch put Dowling ahead 7-0 heading into the bottom of the ninth where Tyler Badamo retired the Purple Knights in order for the complete game win.

Craig finished with three hits, two RBIs, three stolen bases and a run scored to lead the Golden Lions at the plate.

Dowling's starter Badamo was near perfect allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out seven through nine innings was named the tournament Most Outstanding Player.

The Golden Lions receive an automatic bid into the NCAA East Region Tournament.  The remaining teams will be named later in the week.

Provided by the Dowling Sports Information Department.