DAYTON, Ohio – Dayton baseball defeated Toledo by a score of 4-2 on Tuesday afternoon at Woerner Field, which was the final home game of the 2018 before the Flyers close out the season on the road at Davidson this weekend. Dayton and Toledo's records both stand at 18-31 overall following Tuesday's game.

KEY MOMENT
After Toledo scored a run in the top of the sixth inning to tie up the game at 2-2, Tate Hagan and Michael Cleary opened up the bottom half of the frame with a pair of singles and Brett Wells dropped a perfect sacrifice bunt down the third base line to advance both runners into scoring position. Takahiro Yamada doubled down the left field line to put the Flyers back in the driver's seat by two runs, which would prove to be enough run support for the Dayton bullpen, as Justin Longbrake, Jordan Cox, Dom Coconcelli, Masashi Sakamoto and Jonathan Brus all combined to keep the Rockets off the scoreboard in the final three innings.
 
SCORING SUMMARY
Top 1st: (Toledo 1, Dayton 0)
Matt Hansen hit a leadoff single through the right side and then advanced to third when he successfully stole second base and Brett Wells' throw on the attempt ricocheted off Hansen's helmet and careened into the outfield, allowing him to take the extra base. John Servello followed with another single to send home Hansen and give Toledo the lead.

Bottom 2nd: (Dayton 1, Toledo 1)
Tate Hagan, Brett Wells, Takahiro Yamada and Mitchell Garrity all walked in the inning to force home a run and tie the game.

Bottom 4th: (Dayton 2, Toledo 1)
Brett Wells ripped a one-out single through the left side and moved up to third base after a Takahiro Yamada single. Mitchell Garrity hit a sacrifice fly to center field that was deep enough to allow Wells to score.

Top 6th: (Dayton 2, Toledo 2)
Each of the first three Toledo batters in the inning reached, including Ross Adolph, who opened the sixth by drawing a walk. Dalton Bollinger doubled down the left field line to give the Rockets a pair of runners in scoring position and Brad Boss singled
into center to plate Adolph. Boss stole second during the next at-bat to put runners on second and third once again with no outs, but Justin Longbrake settled in on the mound and retired each of the next three Rockets to avoid any additional damage.

Bottom 6th: (Dayton 4, Toledo 2)
Tate Hagan and Michael Cleary opened up the bottom half of the frame with a pair of singles and Brett Wells dropped a perfect sacrifice bunt down the third base line to advance both runners into scoring position. Takahiro Yamada doubled down the left field line to put the Flyers back in the driver's seat by two runs, which would prove to be enough run support for the Dayton bullpen, as Justin Longbrake, Jordan Cox, Dom Coconcelli, Masashi Sakamoto and Jonathan Brus all combined to keep the Rockets off the scoreboard in the final three innings.
 
KEY STATS

• Dayton finishes its home season with a 10-10 record at Woerner Field. The Flyers have had a .500 record or better at home in 11 out of 15 seasons since 2004, the first year that Woerner Field was opened.
• Takahiro Yamada went 2-for-2 at the plate, extending his hitting streak to nine, and also drove in two runs in the bottom of the sixth to give Dayton the lead.
• Mitchell Garrity accounted for Dayton's two other RBIs on the day.
• Brandon Smith also tied Yamada's team-high with two hits.
• Josh Nixon earned the start for the Flyers and pitched 3.0 innings and struck out four, while allowing just one run (unearned) off three hits and walking one.
• Justin Longbrake, who earned the win on the mound, was the first reliever out of the bullpen and threw 4.0 innings, yielding one earned run off four hits and two walks.
• Jonathan Brus inherited a runner on first base when he relieved Masashi Sakamoto on the mound in the ninth inning with no outs, but Brus was unfazed by the runner aboard and retired the three batters he faced in order to earn his first career save.

UP NEXT
Dayton's final three games of the season are this weekend at Davidson. The series will begin Thursday, May 17 at 4 p.m., with subsequent games scheduled for Friday and Saturday at 4 p.m. and 11 a.m., respectively.