March 30, 2011

CINCINNATI, Ohio – Dayton scored four runs in the last three innings to defeat Cincinnati, 4-3, at Marge Schott Stadium on Wednesday night.
   
On a cold, overcast night with near-freezing temperatures, Cincinnati jumped out to an early 3-0 advantage with 11 hits after five innings, including a solo homerun in the second inning for the first run of the game.

But the Flyers answered late in the game, not only at the plate, but on the mound as Dayton’s bullpen only surrendered one hit in the last four innings. That paved the way for an offensive run which would produce four runs – all with two outs. 

“Late in the game, the right guys were on the mound and the right guys were at the plate and we played well enough on defense to stay in the game,” Head Coach Tony Vittorio said. “Offensively, just 41 percent of our plate appearances were quality at-bats, but we were able to stay mentally tough and pull through with some clutch hits at the end.”

In the seventh inning the Flyers got on the board with two unearned runs scored by freshman Mel Skochdopole and junior Bobby Glover. Skochdopole reached base on a fielding error by the Cincinnati third baseman and, after a groundout, was driven in on a single from Glover. One of junior Brian Blasik’s three hits on the night was a double in the seventh which drove in Glover from second to put UD within one, 3-2.

Blasik finished the night 3-for-5 at the plate, while extending his hitting streak to 17 games, dating back to last season. The Germantown, Ohio native has a hit in every game he has played in this season – totaling 18 hits through 10 games with a team-best .429 batting average.

After a 1-2-3 inning for Dayton in the eighth, sophomore Ian Hundley led off the ninth with a walk. Sandwiched between two strikeouts, Glover again came through in the clutch with a single to put two runners on base. Then, junior C.J. Gillman drove in Hundley – the tying run –with two outs and runners on first and second.

A Cincinnati pitching change between couldn’t stop the ensuing base hit from senior Danny Welch, which drove in the game-winning run scoring by Glover. Welch finished with two hits on the night.

Junior RHP Mike Hauschild (5-3) threw two strikeouts in the last 1 1/3 innings to earn the win for the Flyers. Before Hauschild entered, junior Burny Mitchem inched closer to the Dayton’s career strikeout record with two Ks in 1 2/3 innings pitched. Mitched now totals 185 – tied at third with current Washington Nationals middle-reliever Craig Stammen (2003-05).

It is the first come-from-behind win for Dayton (12-13), which entered the game 0-9 when trailing after seven innings this season. Cincinnati (11-11) lost for just the fourth time in 12 home games at Marge Schott Stadium.

The Flyers will open Atlantic 10 Conference season this weekend, hosting a three-game series with Temple beginning at 3 p.m. ET on Friday at Time Warner Cable Stadium.