DAYTON – The University of Dayton baseball team beat George Mason 14-3 in seven innings on Sunday to take the series against the Patriots 3-1.
 
The Flyers now sit at 14-23 overall on the season and 4-4 in A-10 play. Junior Marcos Pujols hit a two-run home run with UD up 12-3 to put Dayton up 10 and enact the 10-run rule. Pujols went 3-for-5 on the day with three RBIs.
 
Junior Benjamin Blackwell had another big day at the plate for Dayton. The shortstop went 2-for-3 with a grand slam and five runs scored, drawing a walk and a hit by pitch. Blackwell went 9-for-14 on the series with two home runs, seven RBIs, and 12 runs scored. Senior Riley Tirotta also drove in three runs and doubled in the win.
 
Freshman Parker Bard made his first career start, going six inning and striking out a career-high 10 while giving up just three runs on the afternoon.
 
ON THE MOUND
Bard went the first six innings, with his 10 strikeouts moving Dayton pitchers up to 353 strikeouts in 2021, the eighth highest total in program history. This year's team passed the pitching staff from 2006, who struck out 343 on the season.
 
The freshman was relieved in the seventh by junior Jake Silverstein, who struck out one in a hitless seventh inning in what would turn out to be the last inning of the contest.
 
SCORING PLAYS
Bottom 1: (3-0 Flyers)
Ricciardi walked to lead off the inning and Blackwell would reach on a bunt single. With two on Pujols would bring Ricciardi home with a single to center field to give Dayton a 1-0 lead. Blackwell scored on a fielder's choice by Tirotta, who would steal second to advance into scoring position. Graduate student Chris Cabrera reached on an error by the George Mason left fielder, allowing Tirotta to score and making it 3-0 Flyers early.
 
Top 2: (3-1 Flyers)
A one-out double followed by a single pushed across the first run of the game for George Mason.
 
Bottom 2: (7-1 Flyers)
Senior Mitchell Garrity walked to lead off the inning and he advanced to third on a well-executed hit and run on a base hit by Ricciardi. Blackwell would walk to load the bases and Tirotta would bring home two runs with a double to left center. Two more runs would come home when Cabrera singled to right field, putting Dayton up six runs through two innings.
 
Top 3: (7-2 Flyers)
Bard would retire the first batter of the inning, but a one-out home run to right center field cut the lead to five.
 
Top 4: (7-3 Flyers)
A strikeout led off the inning for Bard, but another one-out home run cut the lead to 7-3.
 
Bottom 4: (8-3 Flyers)
Blackwell led off the inning with a hit by pitch and he moved to third on a single by Pujols. With runners on the corners, Pujols took off on a pitch and purposefully got himself caught in a rundown. Blackwell took off for home and scored on the play making it 8-3.
 
Bottom 5: (12-3 Flyers)
Graduate student Alex Brickman led off the inning with a hit by pitch, and he moved to second on a single to center field by freshman Chase Melnick. Garrity loaded the bases with his 58^th career hit by pitch, extending his own program record, and Blackwell hit his fifth home run of the season, a grand slam, to make it 12-3 in favor of Dayton.
 
Bottom 7: (14-3 Flyers)
Blackwell reached on an error with one out and Pujols would end the game two pitches later with his home run to right field, putting the Flyers up by at least 10 runs and giving the team the victory.
 
UP NEXT
The Flyers will head to Akron on Tuesday, April 20 at 3 p.m. at Skeeles Field for a midweek showdown against the Zips and the second matchup between the two schools this season. Dayton won the first game 18-7 on March 30.