April 24, 2007

DAYTON, Ohio - Homestanding Dayton lost a back-and-forth affair with local rival Wright State, 6-4 in 10 innings on Tuesday afternoon at Time Warner Cable Stadium. With its first non-conference loss in three weeks, UD fell to 17-22 overall this season. Dayton continues its homestand with four games in four days beginning on Thursday at 4 p.m. ET against Tiffin.

The Flyers had their chances throughout the game as they out hit the Raiders, 11-7 and were hit by pitch a school-record tying seven times, which is also the fourth highest total in NCAA single-game history. Dayton leads the nation with 84 times hit by pitch in 39 games played and is on track to become the 12th team in NCAA history to be plunked at least 100 times in a season. Overall 10 players combined, seven Flyers and three Raiders, were hit by pitch in the game which tied for the second most in NCAA single-game history.

UD had its leadoff runner reach base each inning from the second through the ninth, but stranded 15 runners on base throughout the afternoon. Senior Bobby Getty led the Flyer offense with a double and a RBI as part of a 5-for-5 effort.

Scott Dunwoody was 3-for-6 with a run scored and a RBI while Jeff Mercer added a pair of singles for Dayton.

Sophomore Quinn Haselhorst hit a RBI single and laid down a sacrifice bunt after entering the game as one of four Flyer position players to come off the bench on the afternoon.

Freshman Chris Beesley performed well in his first collegiate start as he allowed just one earned run on three hits. He did not allow a walk in 7.0 innings pitched before giving way to senior Phil Ernst.

After not allowing a run in the eighth inning, Ernst surrendered two runs on three hits in the ninth inning. He was followed by Chris Beesley who walked one batter while retiring the side without giving up another run.

Ryan Hill started the 10th inning in relief for Dayton and walked three batters while allowing two runs in 2/3 of an inning pitched to fall to 1-3 on the year.

Wright State got on the board first with an unearned run in the top of the second inning. Justin Parker ledoff with a double down the left field line. On the next at bat, Casey McGrew laid down a sacrifice bunt, but the Flyer pitcher threw the ball high of first base on the play and Parker scored while McGrew moved to second base. Brian Shoup tried to place down another bunt on the next at bat. UD catcher Scott Dunwoody jumped on the ball and threw it towards first, but the ball hit Shoup who was running inside the base line. Shoup was ruled out on runner's interference and McGrew was forced to return to second base. Chris Beesley retired the next two batters in order and got out of the jam with WSU ahead only 1-0.

The Raiders added another run on a solo homer to left field by Gerald Ogrinc in the top of the seventh inning to go ahead, 2-0. UD answered back in the bottom of the frame to cut the WSU lead back to one run. Scott Dunwoody ledoff the inning with a single to center field. Bobby Getty followed with a double to left centerfield and the Flyers had runners on second and third with no outs. Jeff Mercer laced a sharp line drive to second base for the first out of the inning, but Joe McSoley worked a full count in the next at bat before hitting a RBI ground ball to second base to plate Dunwoody from third.

Dayton continued its offense with a pair of runs in the eighth inning. Frank Tedesco was hit by the first pitch of the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Quinn Haselhorst. Tedseco would move to third on a deep fly ball to right centerfield. Wright State went to the bullpen and the Raider reliever allowed Massa to reach first base by hitting him with a pitch on a full count to put runners at the corners with two outs. Scott Dunwoody followed with a RBI single to right centerfield to plate Tedesco. Massa went from first to third on the play and scored on the fifth-straight base hit by Bobby Getty, a solid single up the middle to put Dayton ahead 3-2. With Flyers on first and second, Jeff Mercer hit a sinking line drive to left field that was squeezed on a great play by the WSU left fielder to end the inning with UD ahead by one run.

The see-saw battle continued in the top of the ninth as Wright State with two runs on two hits to go ahead, 4-3.
UD kept its hopes alive with a run in the bottom of the frame. Joe McSoley worked another full count before drawing a leadoff walk. McSoley moved to second base, but the Flyers were down to their final out when Quinn Haselhorst ripped a line drive single up the middle to plate McSoley.

The momentum would be short lived for the Flyers as three of the first four Raider batters walked in the top of the 10th inning. A sacrifice fly and a RBI single later, Wright State went ahead for good 6-4 as Dayton was retired without a run in the bottom of the inning.