LEXINGTON, Ky. - The University of Dayton softball team split its games on the second day of the Kentucky John Cropp Classic Friday at UK's John Cropp Stadium. Evansville was able to sneak past Dayton, 2-1, but in the nightcap Dayton outlasted Kent State, 3-2, in eight innings.
Dayton is now 9-10 on the season while Evansville improved to 6-11 and Kent State fell to 7-8 overall.
KEY STATS
4 - senior
Gabrielle Snyder tallied four hits on the day, including a double, collecting six bases and scoring two runs
3-for-4 - sophomore
Aspyn Novak went 3-for-4 at the plate for a .750 average
12 - junior
Manda Cash collected a total of 12 strikeouts in a total of seven innings pitched across two games
Evansville 2, Dayton 1
A defensive battle through the first five innings, neither team was able to muster any runs until Evansville put up a two-spot in the bottom of the sixth. With the bases loaded, the Purple Aces used a fielder's choice to plate their first run and the second came across on a RBI-single. Dayton rallied in the top of the seventh and was also able to load the bases. Senior
Hannah DeSalvo was hit by a pitch to bring in the Flyers' lone run of the game and UD was not able to score again.
Winning Pitcher: Florey (4-4)
Losing Pitcher:
Jessica Weaver (1-3)
Dayton 3, Kent State 2 (8)
Kent State started strong with a solo home run in the first inning but the bats were silent for both teams through the next three frames. Snyder was able to score for the Flyers in the fifth as junior
Kailee Budicin made it to first on a Golden Flash error. The two remained tied through seven so the international tiebreaker rule was put into effect in the eighth. Sophomore
Julia Blarr was placed on second for UD and got to third on a nicely played bunt by senior
Katie Ryan. Blarr scored on a single by sophomore
Kyle Davidson and Ryan was plated on a double by sophomore
Lisa Tassi. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, Kent State scored a run on a fielder's choice but would get no further as Dayton held on for the 3-2 win.
Winning Pitcher Snyder (1-3)
Losing Pitcher: Ladines (3-4)
UP NEXT
Dayton is set for a mid-week doubleheader at Morehead State on Wednesday, March 15. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. at University Field in Morehead, Ky.