DAYTON – The University of Dayton baseball team won both games of the seven-inning doubleheader against George Mason on Saturday, winning 11-1 in the first game before taking the second game late 12-10.
 
The Flyers improve to 13-23 on the season and 3-4 in Atlantic 10 play.
 
Junior Benjamin Blackwell went a perfect 7-7 between the two games, with a home run, three RBIs and six runs scored on the day. The Flyers also got home runs from graduate students Chris Cabrera and Eddie Pursinger and senior Riley Tirotta, with Tirotta hitting his team-leading 11^th of the season. Senior Mariano Ricciardi extended his hitting streak to a team-high 16 consecutive games, picking up five hits on the day and driving in three runs.
 
Graduate student Ben Olson dominated on the mound, picking up eight strikeouts in his seven-inning complete game in the first contest, backed by 11 runs to give Dayton its first win of the day.
 
The Flyers were locked in a battle in game two, tied 10-10 heading into the bottom of the sixth before graduate student Alex Brickman's go ahead RBI double brought home two runs and gave UD a lead for Freshman Ben Petschke, who shut down the Patriots in the top of the seventh to give Dayton the win.
 
GAME ONE
ON THE MOUND
Olson got the ball to start the first game, and he was the only pitcher the Flyers needed in the opener. The lefty gave up just the one run and his eight strikeouts put the team at 336 on the season, the 10^th most as a team in program history, passing the teams from 2002 and 2017 who previously had 332 strikeouts in their respective seasons.
 
SCORING PLAYS
Bottom 1: (1-0 Flyers)
Blackwell sent a 1-1 pitch over the right field wall for his fourth home run of the season to give Dayton a 1-0 lead early in game one.
 
Top 3: (1-1 Tie)
Olson got the first batter in the third out before a single followed by a double brought home George Mason's lone run of the game.
 
Bottom 3: (5-1 Flyers)
Senior Mitchell Garrity led off the inning with a single and Ricciardi followed with a single behind him. Blackwell brought Garrity home with a double to right center and after Tirotta was intentionally walked, Cabrera brought home his first run of the game with a single to left field. Pursinger brought the third run of the inning home with a walk, and a sacrifice fly by graduate student Alex Brickman made it a four-run lead for UD.
 
Bottom 5: (9-1 Flyers)
Cabrera's fourth home run of the season made it 6-1 Dayton to lead off the fifth inning. Brickman singled up the middle and pinch runner junior Jake Silverstein stole second in his place. Garrity was hit by a pitch and Ricciardi brought home the second run of the inning with a base hit up the middle. Garrity would move to third and score on a wild pitch. Blackwell would bring home the fourth run of the inning with a base hit to center field, scoring Ricciardi from second.
 
Bottom 6: (11-1 Flyers)
Back-to-back one out walks to Pursinger and Silverstein put two on before Garrity was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game and the 56^th time of his career to extend his own program record. Garrity is fourth among active players in Divison I in the category. Ricciardi would bring home the final two runs of the game with a single to left center field, giving the game its final score of 11-1.
 
GAME TWO
ON THE MOUND
Senior Cole Pletka got the start for Dayton in game two, going the first inning of the game, picking up two strikeouts and giving up one run in the process. Pletka was relieved by sophomore Anthony Hattrup. Hattrup would go the next 2.1 innings, giving up two runs on two hits and striking out one.
 
Graduate student Tyler Jones would enter for the 81^st time in his career, tying Brian Heitkamp for second in program history in appearances. Jones now sits seven behind Burny Mitchem for the team record. He would pitch the next two-thirds of an inning allowing one earned run on two hits before giving way to senior Jonathan Brus. Brus would also pitch two-third of an inning giving up three runs on two hits.
 
Junior Bryce Hellgeth entered for Brus, finishing the fifth inning, giving up one run on one hit. Graduate student Justin Longbrake entered in the sixth for the Flyers, pitching the inning giving up one unearned run on two hits. Freshman Ben Petschke would enter for Longbrake in the seventh, finishing the game and earning his first career collegiate save in the process.
 
SCORING PLAYS
Top 1: (1-0 Patriots)
After a leadoff walk and two wild pitches moved the runner to third, Pletka would get back-to-back strikeouts. A hit by pitch put runners on the corners and a passed ball brought home the run for GMU.
 
Bottom 1: (2-1 Flyers)
Ricciardi led off the inning with a walk and Blackwell doubled to right field to put two in scoring position and Tirotta brought them both home with a single down the left field line to give the Flyers the lead.
 
Bottom 3: (6-1 Flyers)
Blackwell singled to lead off the inning and a Tirotta walk put two on again. Brickman would double down the left field line to score two runs and Pursinger's eighth home run of the season made it 6-1 Dayton.
 
Top 4: (6-5 Flyers)
A walk and a single to right field put two on with one out to bring Jones into the game. A three-run home run made it 6-4. The next batter would make it to third on a bunt single and a throw that got past Brickman at first. A groundout to Tirotta would cut the UD lead to one run.
 
Bottom 4: (10-5 Flyers)
Ricciardi hit a one-out single through the left side and a single by Blackwell moved him to second. Pujols brought Ricciardi home to score with a single up the middle and Blackwell followed him home scoring on a wild pitch. Tirotta's team-leading 11^th home run of the season made it 10-5 Dayton in the fourth.
 
Top 5: (10-9 Flyers)
A leadoff double would move to third on a wild pitch. A groundout to Blackwell at shortstop would make it a 10-6 game. Brus would get the second out on a flyout to Garrity before a double and another wild pitch put a runner on third. Back-to-back walks would load the bases and a wild pitch would make it 10-7. A single to center field would bring home the other two baserunners cutting Dayton's lead to one.
 
Top 6: (10-10 Tie)
Longbrake led off the inning with a strikeout before a single followed by an error on Tirotta put a runner on third. A single through the left side tied the game at 10 in the sixth.
 
Bottom 6: (12-10 Flyers)
A leadoff walk from Blackwell followed by a two-out bunt single from senior Michael Cleary put two on for Brickman, who doubled to right field scoring both runs and putting Dayton up by two. Petschke would hold down the fort in the top of the seventh to give UD its second win of the day.
 
UP NEXT
The Flyers will return on Sunday for the series finale against George Mason. First pitch is 12 p.m. at Woerner Field.