- Box Score - Game 1
- Box Score - Game 2
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The University of Dayton softball team won their first game Sunday 6-5 in nine innings before falling to host Western Kentucky 7-2.
Game 1 – Dayton 6, Pittsburgh 5
The Flyers trailed the Panthers early on after Pitt scored in the opening frame, but Dayton countered with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Senior Kathleen Maloof plated the first run with a sacrifice fly before junior Kasi Vazquez contributed an RBI single.
Pitt tied the game back up at 2-2 in the third with a single run.
Dayton took back the lead with two runs in the fourth on freshman Paige Rhodes’ RBI double and sophomore Natalie Mariano’s RBI single.
The Panthers answered once again and tied the score at 4-4 with two runs in the sixth inning.
The contest went into extra innings as Dayton and Pitt jockeyed for position.
Both teams scored a run in the eighth, keeping the game deadlocked. Junior Jenna Lopes recorded a sacrifice fly, making it 5-5. Neither team wanted to give up control in the game as the Flyers and Panthers went back and forth.
It took until the bottom of the ninth inning when sophomore Tiffany Ricks reached on a fielding error that allowed senior Leah Sitter to score the winning run. Dayton picked up its second win of the season, 6-5.
It marked the second straight extra-inning affair for the Flyers, who out-hit the Panthers 11-6.
Starting pitcher Kayla English (2-4) tossed all nine innings for Dayton, giving up just two earned runs on six hits while fanning nine batters.
Mariano, Maloof, Vazquez, and Rhodes all had multi-hit games for the Flyers.
Game 2 – Western Kentucky 7, Dayton 2
The Flyers wrapped up the Hilltopper Classic Sunday against host Western Kentucky and suffered a 7-2 loss at the hands of the Hilltoppers.
WKU scored a pair of runs in the first inning to take the initial lead.
Dayton answered with single runs in the second and third innings on a solo home run by Vazquez and an RBI double by Maloof.
The Hilltoppers also scored in the second inning, as the Flyers trailed 3-2 heading into the late stages of the contest.
Dayton tried to keep within striking distance of WKU, but the Hilltoppers scored four runs over the last two innings.
In the end, the Flyers fell to Western Kentucky 7-2.
Alysha Isaacson (0-3) was saddled with the loss for Dayton after allowing four runs on 10 hits in five innings on the mound.
The Flyers combined for five hits as a team. Maloof and Vazquez provided the RBIs.
Dayton (2-8) will now travel to the Winthrop tournament next weekend for another five non-conference games.
