BUIES CREEK, N.C. – The University of Dayton baseball team dropped the series finale against Campbell 11-2 on Sunday at Jim Perry Stadium in Buies Creek.
 
The Flyers failed to gain much momentum from Saturday's victory, committing four errors in Sunday's loss and putting the team's record at 1-5 in 2021. Dayton kept it close early, tied 1-1 after the top of the third inning, but the Camels outscored UD 10-1 from that point on with the Flyers going through nine different pitchers in the contest.
 
Senior Mariano Ricciardi and graduate student Chris Cabrera each picked up two hits on the day to lead the Flyers offensively, while juniors Marcos Pujols and Jay Curtis each drove in a run for Dayton.
 
On the Mound
Senior Cole Pletka took the mound after impressing in his opening series performance at South Carolina, but was unable to match that outing against the Camels. He allowed three runs in 2.2 innings for Dayton, striking out three and walking three in the process. He was relieved by junior Jake Silverstein in the third. Silverstein would go the next inning on the mound, allowing a run on two hits putting the Flyers down 4-1.
 
Freshman Parker Bard would be next for UD, facing three batters and throwing one-third of an inning allowing on unearned run on no hits and a walk. Graduate Student Tyler Jones relieved Bard, tossing one inning allowing two runs, one earned, allowing two hits and striking out one. Freshman Austin Brush would enter in the sixth after Jones, facing three batters allowing two runs in one-third of an inning. Brush would give way to redshirt freshman Cameron Burford who hit the only batter he faced before freshman Eli Majick came into the game.
 
Majick went one-third of an inning, not allowing a run, facing two batters in the process. Sophomore Anthony Hattrup would finish the sixth inning and would last through the seventh inning, allowing a solo home run but striking out two in 1.1 innings on the mound. Junior Dylan Keller would finish the game, throwing a perfect eighth inning on just nine pitches.
 
Scoring Plays
Bottom 1: (1-0 Camels)
Pletka bounced back after allowing a leadoff double followed by an RBI single with three consecutive outs to end the first, but Dayton still trailed 1-0.
 
Top 3: (1-1 Tie)
Senior Riley Tirotta was hit by a pitch with one out, then stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error on the steal. Pujols drove in Dayton's first run of the game with a sacrifice fly to left field, tying the game at one.
 
Bottom 3: (3-1 Camels)
Pletka allowed a leadoff triple and a one-out walk to put runners on first and third. The senior pitcher could not handle a ground ball back to him, allowing the runner on third to score on the error. Pletka walked the next hitter to load the bases before a sacrifice fly to right field pushed the score to 3-1 Campbell.
 
Bottom 4: (4-1 Camels)
Silverstein stayed in the game to start the fourth inning and after a leadoff single led to a fielder's choice, Campbell's leadoff hitter advanced to second on a wild pitch and stole third. Silverstein struck out the next batter but a two-out double scored the run, making it 4-1 Campbell.
 
Bottom 5: (5-1 Camels)
Bard opened the fifth on the mound for UD and hit the first batter and walked the next bringing Tyler Jones into the game. Both Campbell baserunners stole a base to put runners in scoring position before a strikeout put the first out on the board. An error by Jones scored the runner from third on the next play before the inning ended on a 6-4-3 double play.
 
Top 6: (5-2 Camels)
Graduate student Alex Brickman walked to lead off the inning and after senior Nolan Watson entered as a pinch runner, graduate student Eddie Pursinger singled advancing Watson to third. Curtis followed that with an RBI groundout to the shortstop cutting the lead to three.
 
Bottom 6: (10-2 Camels)
The first three Campbell hitters singled to start the sixth inning, scoring the first run of the inning for Campbell. A sacrifice fly marked the first out of the inning but extended the lead to 7-2 for Campbell and a walk brought in Burford. A wild pitch brought home the eighth run for the Camels and advanced another runner to third. After a hit by pitch, Eli Majick recorded the next out of the inning with another sacrifice fly making it 9-2 Campbell. Another wild pitch pushed the runner to third and an RBI single finished the scoring for the sixth inning.
 
Bottom 7: (11-2 Camels)
A leadoff home run off of Hattrup gave the game its final score of 11-2.
 
 
Up Next:
The Flyers will play the final game of their seven-game roadtrip to start the season on Wednesday, March 3 against Tennessee. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.