DAYTON – The University of Dayton baseball team won its opening day game of the spring season against Eastern Michigan University by a score of 11-9. The Flyers improve to 2-7 overall while the Eagles drop to 3-9 on the season.
 
KEY MOMENT
Going into the bottom of the eighth inning, the Flyers were tied with the Eagles, 9-9. Pat Meehan started the inning at the plate by flipping a ball out to left field and used his base path awareness and speed to turn a would-be single into a double. Mitchell Garrity immediately followed by batting in his second run of the game with a single to center field. Brandon Smith followed with his fourth RBI of the day to give the Flyers a two-run lead heading to the ninth. Josh Nixon sealed the win for the Flyers on the mound in the ninth with two strikeouts.
 
SCORING BREAKDOWN
Bottom 1^st: After Mitchell Garrity started the game with a line drive single to left field, Brandon Smith stepped up to the plate and homered over center field. Dayton 2, Eastern Michigan 0
Top of the 2^nd: Eastern Michigan started the inning with a lead-off triple, then the Eagles put a run on the board after a ground out scored the runner.. Dayton 2, Eastern Michigan 1
Bottom of the 2^nd: With two Flyers in scoring position, Pat Meehan hit a line drive to left field to extend Dayton's lead to three. Meehan then scored off a single from Mitchell Garrity. Dayton 5, Eastern Michigan 1.
Bottom of the 3^rd: Takahiro Yamada reached first base off an error by the Eagles third basemen, then catcher Bailey Montoya doubled to right field to advance Yamada to third base. Yamada eventually scored on an error by the shortstop. Dayton 6, Eastern Michigan 1
Top of the 4^th: Eastern Michigan loaded the bases after a Dayton error, walk, and hit by pitch. The Eagles capitalized on the bases loaded with a grand slam, cutting the Flyers lead to one. Dayton 6, Eastern Michigan 5
Bottom of the 4^th: Pat Meehan stole second and third base to get in scoring position for the Flyers. Brandon Smith batted in his third run of the game which was then followed by Tate Hagan's single up the middle, scoring Riley Tirotta.  Dayton 8, Eastern Michigan 5
Bottom of the 5^th: Connor Echols started the inning with a single off the wall. Yamada followed with a single, putting runners at first and third. Brantley Johnson came in clutch for the Flyers, hitting a single and scoring Echols. Dayton 9, Eastern Michigan 5
Top of the 6^th: Jeff Timko hit an RBI single to score Drake Peggs and bring the Eagles back within three. Dayton 9, Eastern Michigan 6
Top of the 7^th: Tyler Jones gave up a walk, which lead to a pitching change for the Flyers. Justin Longbrake took the mound and gave up a two-run home run. Dom Coconcelli came in for Longbrake and gave up another home run in the inning to bring the game to a tie. Dayton 9, Eastern Michigan 9
Bottom of the 8^th: Pat Meehan started the inning at the plate by flipping a ball out to left field and used his base path awareness and speed to turn a would-be single into a double. Mitchell Garrity immediately followed by batting in his second run of the game with a single to center field. Brandon Smith followed with his fourth RBI of the day to give the Flyers a two-run lead heading to the ninth. Dayton 11, Eastern Michigan 9

KEY STATS

• Each of the top five players in the Dayton lineup had two hits or more, as the Flyers racked up 18 total hits as a team on the day.
• The No. 1-5 spots in the lineup went a combined 13-24 (.541) at the plate.
• Catcher Bailey Montoya also had two hits for the Flyers in the No. 8 hole.
• Brandon Smith hit his first home run of the season, a towering shot over the left-center field wall, in the first inning to give Dayton its first lead of the game.
• Smith was also the team's starting pitcher and threw 3.1 innings, allowing five runs (four earned), on five hits and three walks. He also struck out three Eagles batters.
• Tyler Jones struck out a team-high four batters in 2.2 innings of relief as the first pitcher out of the bullpen for Dayton.
• Josh Nixon pitched the final 2.1 innings of the game for Dayton and earned the win on the mound, his first of the season. Nixon allowed just one hit and struck out three batters, including three in the final frame to seal the win for the Flyers.

UP NEXT
Dayton's game against Miami (Ohio) scheduled for tomorrow has been postponed to March 27. Dayton will play host Wright State at Woerner Field on Friday, March 9 at 3 p.m. Look below for excerpts of postgame interviews with Pat Meehan and head coach Jayson King.