DAYTON – The University of Dayton baseball team fell behind early, but fought back to take and hold the lead in a 2-1 win over Saint Joseph's on Sunday. The Flyers were led by a strong effort on the mound from starting pitcher
Cole Pletka and reliver
Justin Longbrake. Dayton improved to 24-20-1 (12-6 A-10) with the win and Saint Joseph's fell to 16-22 (8-7 A-10) with the loss.
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KEY MOMENT
In the bottom of the sixth, the Flyers had runners on first and second with one out, having recently tied the game.
Connor Wilson hit a ground ball back to the pitcher, who got the force at second, but the double play throw to first went wide, and
Riley Tirotta scored to take the lead.
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SCORING SUMMARY
Top 1: Saint Joseph's 1, Dayton 0
A walk and a single put runners on first and second with one out. After a strikeout recorded the second out, a single to right drove in the game's first run.
Bottom 6: Dayton 2, Saint Joseph's 1.
Back-to-back hits by
Eddie Pursinger and
Riley Tirotta put runners on second and third with nobody out. A
Jay Curtis sacrifice fly drove home Pursinger to tie the game at one. After a walk, a Saint Joseph's throwing error on a fielder's choice allowed Tirotta to score from second.
KEY STATS
- Michael Cleary was hit by a pitch for the 21st time this season, tying a single-season UD record. The 21 hit-by-pitches is tied for the most in the nation on the season. Mitchell Garrity was also hit by a pitch, his 20th on the season.
- Cole Pletka went 6.2 innings, allowing just one run on four hits, and struck out nine on the day. His first five outs were all via the strikeout.
- Pletka has now struck out nine or more in three starts this season.
- Justin Longbrake came in out of the bullpen and threw 2.1 scoreless frames for his team-high third save.
- Flyer pitching stranded eight Saint Joseph's baserunners on the afternoon.
- Hawks pitching stranded nine Dayton baserunners on the afternoon.
- Seven different Flyers recorded a hit during the game.
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UP NEXT
The Flyers will travel to Kent State on Tuesday, April 30 to take on the Golden Flashes. First pitch is at 6:00 p.m. Dayton will return home the following day to take on Bowling Green.
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