DAYTON, Ohio – The University of Dayton baseball team split a doubleheader with George Washington on Saturday to open up its 2018 conference play. The Flyers exploded for a season-high 15 runs in game one en route to a 15-9 victory, but couldn't repeat the fireworks at the plate for game two, dropping the nightcap by a 9-2 margin. The Flyers now have a 7-14 overall record and are 1-1 in the Atlantic 10, while the Colonials stand at 14-12 overall and 4-1 in conference play.
 
KEY MOMENTS
Game One:
Dayton trailed 8-7 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, but the Flyers responded in a big way to grab back the lead for good after Takahiro Yamada blasted a three-run home run well beyond the left field fence to make the score 10-8 in favor of the Flyers. The 10-8 score held until the bottom of the eighth inning, when Dayton added five insurance runs for closer Josh Nixon, including a three-run home run from Connor Echols.
 
Game Two:
George Washington's center fielder Mark Osis hit a two-run home run in the top of the first that set the tone offensively for the Colonials in the second game. The Colonials scored two runs apiece in each of the first three innings to jump out to an early 6-1 lead, which was a deficit that proved too much for the Flyers to overcome.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Game One – 2B Pat Meehan (Junior, Palos Heights, Ill.)
Pat Meehan started off his conference season with a bang on Saturday, hitting 4-for-5 at the plate with two home runs and six RBIs in the first game of the doubleheader. Meehan leads the team with six home runs and 20 runs batted in this season. He has already quadrupled his career home run total this season, as the junior from Palos Heights had two career home runs entering the season and now stands with eight in his two-plus seasons as a Flyer.
 
Game Two – 3B Takahiro Yamada (Sophomore, Columbus, Ind.)
Takahiro Yamada kept Dayton's offensive momentum from the first game rolling at the beginning of game two with a solo home run over the left field wall in the bottom of the first inning. Yamada also scored Dayton's only other run of game two after drawing a walk and scoring all the way from first on a Brandon Smith double off the center field wall.
 
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
Pat Meehan spoke after the game and talked about today's doubleheader and the importance of tomorrow's rubber match vs. George Washington:
 
 
UP NEXT
The rubber match for the three-game series will take place at Woerner Field tomorrow at 12 p.m.