DAYTON, Ohio – The University of Dayton softball team (32-12) came out on the winning side of an offensively charged battle with crosstown rival Wright State (15-27) 9-6 on Tuesday afternoon at UD Softball Stadium.  On a gusty day, the two teams combined for 21 hits.
 
Wright State got things started in the first with a RBI double, which was answered right back in the bottom half of the inning on a sophomore Hannah DeSalvo RBI single.  UD took the 3-1 first inning lead on a two-run Tiffany Ricks homerun, her tenth on the season and third in three games.
 
WSU tied the game back up in the second on back-to-back home runs from Alexis Mayle and Kate Pfeffer.  They took the 4-3 lead in the third on an unearned run scored on a single.
 
Dayton retook the lead in the bottom half of the third with a four-run inning that got started with a freshman Kayla Haberstich RBI single that scored two.  This was followed by a bases loaded walk issued to graduate student Jordan Jennings.  The inning was capped off by a sacrifice fly by freshman Jaclyn Kweder.
 
Jennings kept things going in the fifth with a solo homerun to extend the lead to four runs.  It was her second homerun of the season, and 23^rd in her career. 
 
In the sixth UD and WSU traded runs on a couple of RBI groundouts, first from Pfeffer, then from freshman Kailee Budicin after a Ricks lead-off triple.  Ricks finished three of four on the day with 2 RBI and three runs scored, and was a double away from the cycle.
 
The Raiders attempted the comeback in the seventh, and scored a run on a RBI triple, but freshman Manda Cash shut things down for the Flyers earning her seventh save of the season, tying her for the NCAA lead.  She went three and a third innings, tying her longest relief appearance of the season
 
Senior Kayla English earned the victory for UD, her 17^th on the year.  She is now four wins away from breaking the all-time record at Dayton, and has won each of her last five starts.
 
The Flyers are right back in action tomorrow evening in Akron against the Zips at the Lee R. Jackson Field.  First pitch of the doubleheader is set for 3 p.m.