DAYTON -- The University of Dayton baseball team won its series opener on Friday afternoon over Ball State by a score of 5-4 at DP&L Stadium. The Cardinals had the game-tying run on third base in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, but Corey Imbriano entered the game on the mound and got John Ricotta to ground out to the pitcher to end the game. The Flyers are now 6-9-1 on the season and Ball State drop down to .500 on the year with a 9-9 record.

KEY MOMENTS

• Dayton starting pitcher Hunter Wolfe retired the first 14 Ball State batters in order before a single from John Ricotta in the top of the fifth ended the streak.
• Dayton led 4-2 entering the bottom of the eight and Takahiro Yamada and Michael Cleary both struck out to open the inning, but Benjamin Blackwell drew a five-pitch walk to reach base with two outs. Mitchell Garrity singled into center, which sent Blackwell to third, but the Ball State outfielder misplayed the ball, allowing Blackwell to score and give Dayton what would prove to be a crucial insurance run.
• Entering the final frame trailing by three runs, Ball State had runners on the corners with no outs following a double, a wild pitch and a walk. After a shallow flyout for the first out of the inning, a groundout to third scored the lead runner for the Cardinals to cut the deficit to two. Andre Orselli hit a two-out single to score another runner from second and then was replaced on first base by pinch-runner Langston Ginder, representing the game-tying run. Ginder moved up to third after a passed ball and a wild pitch, but Corey Imbriano entered the game mid-at-bat, inheriting a 2-0 count, and got John Ricotta to groundout to end the game.

SCORING SUMMARY

• Bottom 2: Dayton 1, Ball State 0
  • Riley Tirotta opened the inning with a solo blast to left field, his second of the season.
• Top 7: Dayton 1, Ball State 1
  • Consecutive singles from Aaron Simpson and Chase Sebby put runners on the corners for Ball State with no outs. Noah Navarro grounded into a double play on the next at-bat, but that allowed Simpson to score from third to tie up the game.
• Bottom 7: Dayton 4, Ball State 1
  • Michael Cleary reached base via walk to open the inning and Mitchell Garrity tripled to center to send him home. Garrity would later score on a wild pitch for the second run of the inning. Connor Echols singled and Eddie Pursinger walked to put another Flyer in scoring position, then Jay Curtis ripped a ball through the left side of the infield to drive in Echols.
• Top 8: Dayton 4, Ball State 2
  • Andre Orselli singled and John Ricotta immediately followed with a double down the left field line to put two in scoring position in the eighth. Ryan Peltier struck out swinging on a wild pitch, which allowed Orselli to come home from third.
• Bottom 8: Dayton 5, Ball State 2
  • Takahiro Yamada and Michael Cleary both struck out to open the inning, but Benjamin Blackwell drew a five-pitch walk to reach base with two outs. Mitchell Garrity singled into center, which sent Blackwell to third, but the Ball State outfielder misplayed the ball, allowing Blackwell to score and give Dayton what would prove to be a crucial insurance run.
• Top 9: Dayton 5, Ball State 4
  • Ball State had runners on the corners with no outs following a double, a wild pitch and a walk. After a shallow flyout for the first out of the inning, a groundout to third scored the lead runner for the Cardinals to cut the deficit to two. Andre Orselli hit a two-out single to score another runner from second and then was replaced on first base by pinch-runner Langston Ginder, representing the game-tying run. Ginder moved up to third after a passed ball and a wild pitch, but Corey Imbriano entered the game mid-at-bat, inheriting a 2-0 count, and got John Ricotta to groundout to end the game.

KEY STATS

• Starting pitcher Hunter Wolfe finished with a line of 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 5 K, 0 BB and picked up his second win of the season.
• Wolfe retired the first 14 Ball State batters in order before a single from John Ricotta in the top of the fifth ended the streak.
• Mitchell Garrity had a team-high two hits and each of his last two at-bats resulted in runs scored for Dayton in the seventh and eighth innings.
• Riley Tirotta opened up the scoring for the day with a solo home run in the second innings, his second round-tripper of the season.
• Eddie Pursinger, Jay Curtis and Connor Echols all also had base hits.
• Curtis also picked up his team-high 11th RBI 
• Corey Imbriano earned his first career save by coming in to record the final out with the tying run on third base.

UP NEXT

• Dayton and Ball State will play one game apiece on both Saturday and Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 1:00 p.m. (ET) 
  • Saturday's game will be played in Muncie, Ind., while the series finale will be back in Dayton at DP&L Stadium