Tallahassee, Fla. – The University of Dayton baseball team dropped an 8-3 contest with Florida A&M in Tallahassee, Fla. on Saturday.

The Flyers were unable to overcome a four-run eighth by the Rattlers and fall to 3-6 on the young season with the loss.

Coach's Corner
"I really liked how Andrew Zapka pitched today," head coach Jayson King said. "We took some good at bats but overall we need more from everyone."

On the Mound
Ben Olson started the game for the Flyers, lasting 1.1 innings allowing three runs on five hits, striking out two. Dylan Keller entered the game and was one of seven relievers used throughout the contest. Keller also went 1.1 innings allowing one run on two hits.

Andrew Zapka relieved Keller and performed well going 3.1 innings of one-hit, no run ball. He struck out two and kept the Rattlers off the board for the middle portion of the game.

Kyle Lacalameto entered in the seventh, going 1.1 innings as well, allowing one run on one hit before giving way to Tyler Jones. Jones gave up three runs, with just one of them being earned. Gavin Bates then entered and walked the only hitter he faced.

Corey Imbriano and Jonathan Brus each just went 0.1 innings, but neither allowed a hit.

Scoring Plays
Bottom 1: (2-0 Rattlers)
Ben Olson retired the first hitter he faced, but allowed a walk and two straight singles to give Florida A&M a 1-0 lead. After inducing a pop out, another single by the Rattlers brought the second run home.

Bottom 2: (3-0 Rattlers)
The Rattlers opened with a double to left center and a one-out single up the middle made it a 3-0 deficit for the Flyers.

Bottom 3: (4-0 Rattlers)
The Flyers retired the first two hitters of the inning before a double and a single extended the deficit for Dayton.

Top 5: (4-2 Rattlers)
Jay Curtis led off the inning with a double to left center. He advanced to third on a Michael Cleary ground out before Mariano Ricciardi drove him in with a sacrifice fly to center field. Benjamin Blackwell followed with another double to left center and Riley Tirotta singled through the left side cutting the deficit to two.

Bottom 8: (8-2 Rattlers)
Florida A&M led off with a single. A sacrifice bunt moved him to second. An error by Benjamin Blackwell put runners on first and third before a safety squeeze by the Rattlers made it 5-2. A wild pitch advanced both runners before a single through the left side made it 6-2. A walk loaded the bases before another wild pitch brought home a run. A ground out followed to make it 8-2 and end a four-run eighth inning for Florida A&M.

Top 9: (8-3 Rattlers)
Eddie Pursinger pinch hit and hit a one-out double to left field. Ricciardi advanced him to third on a ground out and Pursinger scored on a single by Blackwell.

Up Next:
The Flyers will attempt to win the series finale tomorrow at 11 a.m. at Moore-Kittles Field against the Rattlers.