SHIRLEY, N.Y. – Felician College tied the score on a wild pitch in the top of the ninth inning, only to surrender the winning run in the bottom of the ninth in its 7-6 non-conference baseball loss to host Dowling College on an overcast Wednesday afternoon at Golden Lions Field.

Dowling (8-5) is ranked No. 6 in the most recent NCAA Division II East Region writers poll. Felician received votes in that poll.

An RBI single by sophomore Scott De Jong (North Haldeon, N.J.) capped a three-run fourth-inning rally for Felician (5-8) that put the visitors ahead, 5-0. But after posting single runs in the fourth and sixth frames, Dowling took the lead with a four-run seventh. Daniel Parisi's (Shirley, N.Y.) run-scoring single was the Golden Lions' fifth hit of the inning and gave the hosts a 6-5 edge.

In the top of the ninth, the Golden Falcons loaded the bases with no one out, drawing three consecutive walks off of Dowling reliever Kyle DeMeo (Franklin Square, N.Y.) (1-0). DeMeo rebounded to record a strikeout, but then uncorked his second wild pitch of the inning to allow Joe Petosa (Spotswood, N.J.) to score the tying run. A one-out fly ball was too shallow to allow Felician to take the lead, and DeMeo escaped further damage with another fly-out to retire the side.

Sophomore right-hander John Holland (Jackson, N.J.) (0-3) came on to start the home half of the ninth as the sixth Golden Falcon pitcher of the day. With one out, Dowling senior J.C. Brandmaier (Bellmore, N.Y.) reached him for a triple to center field. Felician issued intentional walks to the next two hitters to load the bases, but Rob Veltre (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) foiled the strategy with a walk-off single to left-center.

Felician had a 12-11 edge in hits but stranded 12 runners. Senior shortstop Aaron Brill (West Palm Beach, Fla.) was 3 for 4 plus a sacrifice fly and a stolen base, and freshman Brennan Price (Middlesex, N.J.) also had three hits for the Golden Falcons. With four more contests coming up in a three-day stretch this weekend, Felician did not use any pitcher for more than two innings.