DAYTON – The University of Dayton baseball team fell on Saturday to Kent State 11-3 at Woerner Field.
 
The Flyers fall to 6-15 on the season with the loss. Junior Marcos Pujols led the team offensively, going 2-3 with two RBIs on the day, while senior Mariano Ricciardi paced UD with three hits, scoring two runs.
 
Seniors Mitchell Garrity and Michael Cleary each were hit by a pitch in the contest as well, pushing them both closer to the program record. Cleary was hit for the 42^nd time in his Dayton career, putting him into third place on the all-time list while Garrity was hit for the 47^th time, just one behind Cole Tyrell for a share of first in the history of the program.
 
ON THE MOUND
Graduate student Ben Olson started the game for Dayton, going 4.1 innings and striking out seven Kent State hitters. The lefty allowed four runs on six hits in his sixth start of the season.
 
Senior R.J. Wagner entered for Olson in the fifth, going the next 3.1 innings allowing two earned runs on six hits and striking out five. Sophomore Anthony Hattrup finished the game, giving up three unearned runs on three hits in 1.1 innings on the mound.
 
SCORING PLAYS
Top 1: (1-0 Flashes)
Olson allowed a double during the game's first at bat and after getting the next two Kent State hitters out, a double down the left field line gave the Golden Flashes a 1-0 lead.
 
Top 4: (2-0 Flashes)
A leadoff walk was followed by a single putting two on. Olson picked off the runner on second before a walk and a single loaded the bases. A groundout to junior Benjamin Blackwell scored the run and pushed the UD deficit to two.
 
Top 5: (6-0 Flashes)
Two singles and a hit by pitch loaded the bases and Kent State hit a grand slam to make it 6-0.
 
Bottom 7: (6-2 Flashes)
Freshman Chase Melnick singled to lead off the inning and was followed by a base hit by Ricciardi and a walk by Blackwell to load the bases. A wild pitch scored Melnick from third and a sacrifice fly by Pujols brought Ricciardi in to score and cut the lead to four.
 
Top 8: (8-2 Flashes)
A one-out single to left field was followed by a two-out single to right field. An error on graduate student Eddie Pursinger allowed the first run to score and a single to center field made it 8-2 Kent State.
 
Top 9: (11-2 Flashes)
A single with one out put a runner on before Hattrup struck out the next Kent State hitter. An error by Blackwell put two on and a throwing error by Ricciardi brought home another run. A two-run double to right field would give the game its final score of 11-2.
 
UP NEXT
The Flyers will finish the series with Kent State on Sunday with a road doubleheader. The first pitch for the doubleheader is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Olga A. Mural Field at Schoonover Stadium in Kent, Ohio.