Box Score RICHMOND, Va. – The University of Dayton baseball team fell in the opening game of the Atlantic 10 Championship to the third-seed Rhode Island 8-2.
 
The Flyers fall to 22-26 on the season and will take on Saint Joseph's in an elimination game tonight at 8:02 p.m. In the loss, senior Riley Tirotta hit his 15^th home run of the season, which tied him for the third most in program history. Tirotta went 2-for-4 in the contest with a double and the home run.
 
Senior Mitchell Garrity entered as a defensive replacement and hit his sixth home run of the season in the bottom of the eighth inning. Garrity also was hit by a pitch for the 62^nd time in his career, which is already the most in program history and the 19^th time this season, which ties him for seventh in a single season.
 
 
ON THE MOUND
Senior Hunter Wolfe got the ball to start the game, going the first four innings allowing eight runs on six hits while striking out four. The senior now has 90 strikeouts this season, marking just the fourth time that has happened in program history, and the second time Wolfe has accomplished the feat. The lefty now has 215 career strikeouts and is just three behind Luke Trubee for fourth on the all-time list.
 
Freshman Ben Petschke entered in relief in the fifth inning, pitching the next four innings without allowing a run. Petschke allowed just two hits and picked up two strikeouts on the afternoon.
 
Graduate student Tyler Jones pitched the ninth, making his 83^rd career appearance, the second-most in program history. The Bellefontaine, Ohio, native tossed a scoreless inning to end it for Dayton.
 
SCORING PLAYS
Top 1: (3-0 Rams)
A single and a walk put two on, and a double brought home the first run of the game. A single up the middle brought two more home making it 3-0 early.
 
Top 2: (7-0 Rams)
A walk led off the inning and two batters later a single put two on. A single off the glove of senior Mariano Ricciardi brought home the first run of the inning and Rhode Island got three more on a home run to make it 7-0.
 
Top 4 (8-0 Rams)
A walk and a hit by pitch put two on and a wild pitch moved them both up a base. The Rams scored the runner from third on a sacrifice fly to right field.
 
Bottom 6 (8-1 Rams)
Tirotta hit his team-leading 15^th home run of the season to put Dayton on the board in the sixth inning.
 
Bottom 8: (8-2 Rams)
Garrity led off the inning with his sixth home run of the season, cutting the lead to six runs in the eighth.
 
UP NEXT
The Flyers will take on Saint Joseph's in an elimination game. First pitch is scheduled for 8:02 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.