Dayton Flyers

Box Score

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The University of Dayton softball team (14-22) rallied but came up short against the Ohio State Buckeyes (24-14) on Wednesday at Buckeye Field, falling to OSU 3-2.

Senior Brandy Brown was 2-for-3 with a double. Redshirt freshman Jordan Jennings had a solo home run. Freshman Natalie Mariano was 1-for-3. Sophomore Kasi Vazquez had a sacrifice fly for one RBI.

Freshman Kayla English started the game for the Flyers. English pitched 5.2 innings, striking out four and walking two. Sophomore Alysha Isaacson pitched one inning of relief, allowing two earned runs.

Dayton and Ohio State battled through four scoreless innings before OSU scored the first runs of the game.

With bases loaded in the third inning, English pitched her way out of a jam forcing a groundout to second base to retire the side.

The Flyers held off Ohio State once more in the fourth inning when Mariano made a diving catch in shallow left field to end the inning.

The Buckeyes got on the board in the fifth inning, scoring on a passed ball.

Pitching in relief of English, Isaacson found her way out of a base-loaded situation in the bottom of the sixth inning forcing a groundout to end the frame.

Jennings led the top of the seventh off with a first-pitch solo home run to knot the game at one apiece. In the next at-bat, Brown doubled to left center field to put a runner in scoring position. A sacrifice bunt by Lauren Nacke brought pinch runner Carlyn Harlow around to third base. Vazquez’s sacrifice fly to shallow center field scored Harlow for the go-ahead run.

Ohio State pushed back in the bottom half of the seventh. With two runners in scoring position and a two-out full count, freshman Maddy McIntyre drove a base hit up the middle scoring both runners to win the game for the Buckeyes 3-2.

A replay of Wednesday’s game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network on Friday, April 13 at Noon.

Dayton hosts Temple and Saint Joseph’s in Atlantic 10 matchups this weekend at UD Softball Stadium. The Flyers open the weekend on Friday at 3 p.m. against the Temple Owls.