May. 1, 2005

ARLINGTON, Va. - Dayton lost a closely contested game at George Washington 6-5 in eight innings Sunday in the opener of a series-ending doubleheader at Barcroft Park.

The loss put the Flyers and the Colonials into a deadlock atop the A-10 West Division with identical 9-5 records in conference play. Dayton fell to 23-17 overall while GW improved to 29-13 on the year.

Galen Schumm led the offensive attack for Dayton as he stretched his hitting streak to eight games while driving in a season-best three runs while also recording a sacrifice bunt, sacrifice fly and a stolen base.

UD had 11 hits in the game including a 2-for-3 performance by Aaron Hepner who also had his first home run of the season.

Sophomore Michael Massa was 3-for-4 with a double and Joe McSoley went 2-for-5 with a stolen base and a run scored for Dayton while Bryan Chandler was 1-for-3 with two runs scored.

Junior Luke Trubee started the game on the mound for UD and pitched 5.1 innings before giving way to the bullpen. He allowed four earned runs on 10 hits while striking out three batters.

Sophomores Phil Ernst and Kyle Lindsay followed in relief and combined to surrender just one run on three hits over the final 1.2 innings pitched.

The Flyers took an early 1-0 lead with a run in the first inning. Massa led off with a double to center. After a ground out moved him to third, a sacrifice fly to centerfield from Bobby Getty gave Dayton a 1-0 advantage.

GW came back to regain the lead in the bottom of the frame with a two-out, two-run home run. The blast put the Colonials ahead 2-1 after the first inning.

Dayton retaliated in the top of the second to even the score. Chandler led off with a line drive single to left. He then moved to third after Hepner walked and Massa hit a bunt single to third. Chandler then scored on another sacrifice fly as Schumm smacked a line drive to left field that knotted the score at 2-2 midway through the second.

The Colonials took the lead back in the fifth with an RBI double off the right field wall. The one-out hit with runners on the corners put GW ahead 3-2 after five innings.

UD swung the momentum back to its side in the top of the sixth. Hepner began the frame with his first home run of the season to left field. Dayton then forced two pitching changes by the Colonials, but could not score the go-ahead run after tying the game at 3-all.

GW took the lead right back from the Flyers in the bottom of the sixth with a leadoff homer to centerfield. The Colonials then tacked on an unearned run to take a 5-3 advantage after six complete innings.

Dayton came out swinging in the seventh as McSoley hit the first pitch up the middle for a single. Chandler then hit a slow ground ball to second base and beat out a misplayed ball to give UD runners on first and second with no outs. Ramos came on as a pinch hitter to lay down a sacrifice which gave UD two runner in scoring position. Hepner then reached first on a misplayed popup in front of home plate to load the bases. Then with two outs, Schumm ripped a single to right field that easily scored McSoley from third. Chandler made his way from second and slid around the tag at the plate to even the score at 5-5 midway through the seventh inning.

The Colonials then threatened in the bottom of the frame after a single and a wild pitch gave GW a runner on second with no outs. However, Ernst then forced a ground out to third and an intentional walk, UD made a trip to the bullpen. Lindsay then induced another ground ball to third base, which McSoley picked up. He then stepped on third and threw to first for a double play to send the game into extra innings tied at 5-all.

However, GW pulled out the game in the end with an RBI single through the left side of the Flyer infield with bases loaded and no outs in the eighth inning as the Colonials squeezed by Dayton 6-5.