March 27, 2005

DAYTON - Starting pitcher Kaleb Thompson held the defending Atlantic 10 Champions without a hit for the first six innings as Dayton completed a three-game sweep of St. Bonaventure with a 5-2 win on Sunday at Time Warner Cable Stadium.

The Flyers (15-6, 3-0 A-10) have now won 10 of their last 11 games overall and four straight. St. Bonaventure fell to 7-6 overall and 0-3 in Atlantic 10 play.

Thompson improved to 3-2 with the win after allowing just two runs on two hits over 6.1 innings pitched. The senior struck out five while allowing just three walks on the day.

Sophomore Kyle Lindsay finished on the mound for UD to earn his second save of the year. He fanned two and gave up just one hit over 2.1 innings pitched.

Offensively, Dayton was led by William Benoit who was 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Benoit has now hit safely in 18 of 21 games this season and is one of six Flyers to score at least 10 runs.

Sophomore Bobby Getty was 2-for-3 with a stolen base, walk, hit by pitch and two RBI. He now leads the team with a .395 batting average and has a team-best 12 multiple-hit performances.

Michael Massa also scored twice as part of a 1-for-3 day which included a stolen base and an RBI. Massa leads the team with 21 runs scored and nine stolen bases.

Dayton engineered all of its offense in the first three innings with solo runs in the first and third and three more in the second.

Despite playing at home, UD batted first in the relocated series and took advantage as Massa led off with a walk and a stolen base. An RBI single up the middle by Getty followed to plate Massa and put Dayton ahead 1-0.

The Flyers added to their lead in the second with RBI singles by Massa, Galen Schumm and Getty. Benoit, Craig Rohren and Massa scored on the plays to give UD a 4-0 advantage.

Dayton closed out its three-inning rally in the third as Aaron Hepner lifted a sacrifice fly to left field which sent Benoit to the plate for the second time on the day and put the Flyers ahead 5-0.

After six hitless innings pitched by Thompson, Bona put together some offense in the seventh. The Bonnies loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a walk. A pair of ground balls that never left infield followed, but UD could not convert a double play and the Bonnies scored twice to make the score 5-2. Lindsay came on in relief and struck out the final batter in the inning to end the threat and secure a 5-2 Flyer victory.

Dayton returns to action this week with a pair of non-conference games. The Flyers will travel to IPFW on Tuesday and host Butler Wednesday. Both games will begin at 2 p.m.