TROY, Ala. – The University of Dayton softball team split the opening day of the Trojan Warrior Tournament on Friday, taking the opener against Mercer 8-3 and then falling to host Troy in the nightcap 7-3 at the Troy Softball Complex. 

Game One – Mercer
Scoring Breakdown
Top of 2nd – Kayla Haberstich drove home the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly that brought home Hannah DeSalvo to give UD a 1-0 lead.
Top of 3rd – Katie Ryan drove home her first run of the day with a single that brought home Gabrielle Snyder to give Dayton a 2-0 advantage.
Top of 3rd – The lead expanded to 3-0 when Krista Gustafson knocked a two-out single to score Ryan.
Top of 3rd – Dayton pulled off a double steal with DeSalvo taking home to push the Flyers' lead to 4-0.
Top of 4th – After the first two outs of the inning were recorded, UD rattled off four straight hits, starting with a Kathryn Hess RBI double to make the score 5-0.
Top of 4th – Kailee Budicin drove home two runs with a single that scored pinch-runner Kirsten Bartlett and Ryan and swelled the score to 7-0. 
Bottom of 4th – After the leadoff batter reached, the Bears loaded the bases and got a foul fly out deep enough to score their first run of the game, making the score 7-1.
Bottom 5th – Mercer tacked on their second run of the game thanks to a UD error, bringing the Bears one step closer at 7-2.
Top 6th – Junior Gabrielle Snyder led off the frame with a triple and was brought home on a Kathryn Hess sacrifice fly, getting a run back for the Flyers and making it 8-2. 
Bottom 7th – The Bears threatened in the final frame, pushing a run across and loading up the bases, but Dayton escaped the jam and won the game, 8-3.

Key Stats
Gabrielle Snyder pitched a complete game, allowing just one earned run and striking out five.

Snyder also finished 2-for-2 at the plate with two walks and two runs scored.

Game Two – Troy
Scoring Breakdown
Top of 1st – Gabrielle Snyder continued her strong day with a lead-off single to left field and was brought home by a Katie Ryan sacrifice fly to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead.
Bottom of 3rd – A Trojans' bases-loaded walk brought home the first run of the game for the host team, knotting up the score at 1-1.
Bottom of 3rd – With the bases still loaded, Troy delivered the big blow of the night with a bases-clearing double to push the score to 4-1 in favor of the Trojans.
Bottom of 3rd – Troy tacked on one more run thanks to an RBI single, making the score 5-1.
Bottom of 4th – The Trojans got another two-out, RBI double to push their advantage to 6-1.
Top of 5th – Kathryn Hess rocked a double to left-center field to keep the Flyers alive, inching them closer at 5-2.
Bottom of 5th – After a hit by pitch, steal, and sacrifice, Troy scored their last run of the game on an illegal pitch to make the score 7-2.
Top of 6th – UD loaded the bases and made the home fans squirm, but the only run to come across was on a Kayla Haberstich hit by pitch which brought the score to its final of 7-3.

Key Stats
Kailee Budicin had her first three-hit performance of the season, going 3-for-4 in the day's second game.

Hess finished the game 1-for-1 with two walks and an RBI to go along with a double.

UP NEXT
Dayton returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 26 for day two of the Trojan Warrior Tournament. The first game of the day begins at 10:30 a.m. ET against Austin Peay, with the Flyers then getting a rematch against Troy at 1 p.m. ET.