PHILADELPHIA – The University of Dayton softball team (36-12, 19-2 A-10) clinched two milestones in its two victories against the La Salle Explorers (13-19, 9-10 A-10) Saturday afternoon at West Campus Field.  They clinched their first regular season Atlantic 10 title in program history, and also broke the school record for wins in a season with 36.
 
Game One: Dayton 6, La Salle 4
 
The Flyers got the scoring started in the first on a RBI double from sophomore Gabrielle Snyder.  La Salle answered back in the second inning with four runs, two of which came off a homerun.
 
In the third, UD came back with two runs, led by a solo homerun by senior Natalie Mariano, her sixth of the season.  The second run came on a freshman Kailee Budicin RBI double to cut the lead to 4-3.
 
Dayton completed the comeback in the seventh when down to their final out, junior Kathryn Hess singled in sophomore Kirsten Bartlett to tie the game.  This was followed immediately by a two-RBI double from Snyder to give UD the 6-4 lead.
 
Freshman Manda Cash earned her third straight win with five strong innings of relief, her longest relief appearance of the season.  She improves to 10-1 on the year, and finished with nine strikeouts while only yielding one hit.
 
As a team, UD outhit the Explorers 8-3, and were led by Hess and Snyder who had two hits each, while Snyder had a team high three RBI.
 
Game Two: Dayton 6, La Salle 2
 
UD started the scoring in the third inning on RBI from Hess and Snyder, on a bunt single and a double respectively.  La Salle came back with a solo homerun in the third inning to cut the lead to one.
 
Dayton added to the lead in the fifth inning on a senior Tiffany Ricks two-run homerun, her team leading 11^th of the season.  La Salle got one back in the sixth on another solo homerun to cut the lead to 4-2.
 
Ricks continued the power surge in the seventh with her second homerun of the day and 12^th of the season.  A two-run shot gave Dayton the 6-2 lead.
 
Cash had another stellar outing in relief for UD going three and a third strong innings, while striking out seven batters.  She earned her NCAA leading eighth save of the season.  Snyder got the win after going three innings and only allowing one earned run.  It was her eighth victory of the season.
 
UD finished with 13 hits on the day and were paced by Snyder and Ricks who had three hits each.  Ricks led the team with four RBI on the day.
 
After the game head coach Cara LaPlaca talked a little about her team's overall accomplishments.
 
"I'm just proud of how we've battled, how we've handled some tough situations all year," LaPlaca said.  "The girls have believed in the strategy and the process and it has paid off."
 
Dayton now has one more game remaining before the Atlantic 10 Tournament as they complete the weekend series against La Salle.  The first pitch of tomorrow's game is set for noon.