NEW CASTLE, Del. – Junior left-hander Jack Fowler (Shrewsbury, N.J.) pitched into the eighth inning and senior outfielder Joe Petosa (Spotswood, N.J.) drove in two runs as No. 2 seed Felician College began play in the 2014 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Baseball Tournament with a 3-2 victory over No. 6 seed Post University on Thursday afternoon at Wilson Field.

Felician advances to take on No. 5 seed Dominican (N.Y) College in the winners' bracket final on Friday at 11 a.m. at Wilson. Dominican began the four-team double-elimination main draw of the event with a 5-4 win against top seed, No. 11 nationally-ranked and tournament host Wilmington (Del.) University on Thursday morning.

Felician, the home team against Post by virtue of being higher-seeded, jumped out to a 3-0 lead after three innings. The Golden Falcons (27-18) put their first three runners on base in the first inning. Petosa walked to force in a run, and Jay Collazo (Wall, N.J.) followed with a fielder's choice grounder for a 2-0 Felician lead.

Eagle starting pitcher Matt Cambria (Toronto, Ontario) escaped further damage with a double-play grounder, but Felician chased Cambria (2-5) by scoring again in the third. With one out, CACC Player of the Year Aaron Brill (West Palm Beach, Fla.) singled and stole second base. One out later, Petosa muscled an 0-and-2 pitch through the middle to plate Brill. It was the last batter Cambria faced.

Fowler, meanwhile, carried a one-hit shutout into the fifth. Post dented the scoreboard in that frame when Eduardo Familia (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) doubled and scored on a two-out hit by Marcel Chavez (Los Angeles, Calif.). Eagle catcher Alex Beland (Trois-Riviere, Quebec) pulled his team to within 3-2 with a home run to left field leading off the seventh, but Fowler (8-2) retired the next three hitters.

A key defensive play by Brill in the eighth kept the Golden Falcons ahead. Post pinch-hitter Jeff St. Pierre (Milford, Conn.) drew a leadoff walk and gave way to pinch runner Ian Ratchford (Danbury, Conn.). Ratchford moved up to second on a sacrifice, but was cut down trying to move to third on a ground ball to Brill.

The play proved critical when Mike Shada (Holtsville, N.Y.) greeted Golden Falcon closer Matthew Facendo (Hazlet, N.J.) with a double to right-center field, putting runners on second and third. Facendo induced a pop-up to retire the side, then worked around Familia's second two-bagger of the game with one out in the ninth to earn his third save of the season.

Fowler tied the Felician career wins record of 15 held by Chris Eshleman. In 7 2/3 innings, he gave up five hits, struck out six batters, and walked one. Brill was 2 for 4 and scored twice, and Scott De Jong (North Haledon, N.J.) also had a pair of hits for the Golden Falcons.

Post freshman right-hander Evan Devico (Waterbury, Conn.) struck out six hitters in 5 1/3 innings of shutout relief. Leadoff man Zach Brecht (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) was 2 for 3 for the Eagles (17-21-1), who were eliminated later on Thursday with a 5-2 loss to Wilmington.