Richmond, Va.  – The University of Dayton baseball team defeated Richmond by a score of 7-6 on Saturday afternoon in the second game of the weekend series to even up the series at one game apiece. Dayton's record is 13-26 overall and 5-9 in the Atlantic 10, while Richmond is now 21-19 and falls back to 7-7 in conference play, meaning the Spiders are once again just two games ahead of the Flyers for the seventh spot in the A-10 standings.

KEY MOMENT
Brandon Smith, Mitchell Garrity and Connor Echols all hit home runs in the first two innings of the game to give Dayton an early 6-2 lead, which gave the Flyers the cushion they needed when Richmond made a late push midway through the game. Jordan Cox allowed just one run and pitched the final 3.2 innings in relief, including a one-two-three inning to finish off the game in the bottom of the ninth, to record his first save of the season.

SCORING SUMMARY
 Top 1st: (Dayton 2, Richmond 0)
Pat Meehan had a two-out single after the first two batters of the inning were set down and Brandon Smith belted his eighth home run of the season to put Dayton on the board in the first inning for the second straight game.
Bottom 1st: (Dayton 2, Richmond 2)
Two walks and a Dayton error loaded the bases for Richmond and the Spiders got back both runs they conceded in the top of the inning with a two-out single up the middle from Kyle Schmidt.
Top 2nd: (Dayton 6, Richmond 2)
Michael Cleary singled and Brantley Johnson walked to give Dayton a pair of baserunners and both were driven home when Mitchell Garrity blasted a three-run bomb over the right field fence. Connor Echols made it back-to-back jacks with a solo shot to straightaway center field.
Top 3rd: (Dayton 7, Richmond 2)
Brandon Smith walked and Tate Hagan doubled down the left field line to give the Flyers two runners in scoring position with no outs. Takahiro Yamada hit a sacrifice fly to center field to plate Smith to extend Dayton's lead to five.
Bottom 4th: (Dayton 7, Richmond 3)
Anthony Forte hit a solo home run with one out to right field.
Bottom 6th: (Dayton 7, Richmond 5)
A one-out single was followed by a two-run home run from Vinny Capra. The Spiders put two more baserunners on in the inning and saw the game-tying run reach second base with just one out, but reliever Jordan Cox retired two straight batters to end the inning.
Bottom 7th: (Dayton 7, Richmond 6)
Justin Cook homered to left center to bring Dayton's lead down to just one.

KEY STATS

• Dayton got hits from eight of the nine starters in its lineup, including Brantley Johnson and Mitchell Garrity, who extended their reached base streaks to 18 and 17 games, respectively.
• Johnson also has a six-game hitting streak entering tomorrow's series finale.
• Tate Hagan went 3-for-5 at the plate with two doubles, which is his fourth game with three hits this season.
• Garrity, Connor Echols and Brandon Smith each hit a home run in the first two innings of the game.
• Smith's home run was his eighth of the season, a team-high mark.
• Garrity and Echols home runs were back-to-back, marking the second time this season Dayton players have hit consecutive home runs. Smith and Hagan went back-to-back against Saint Louis on April 14.
• Garrity led the team with three runs batted in, all on his home run in the second inning.
• Austin Cline threw 5.1 innings on the mound, allowing five runs (three earned) and striking out three, while battling through six walks issued.
• Jordan Cox showed strong command in his final 3.2 innings to close out the game, as the sophomore from Zionsville, Ind. walked no batters and allowed just one run.
• Cox picked up his first save of the season and the fifth of his career. His five career saves place him alone at 10th all-time on Dayton's career saves list.

UP NEXT
Dayton and Richmond will play for the series tomorrow at noon.