DAYTON – The University of Dayton baseball team fell on Friday 6-2 in the team's home opener to Milwaukee. Junior Mark Manfredi allowed just one hit in five innings on the mound, striking out seven Panthers in relief for the Flyers. Graduate student Henry Strmecki led the team with two hits, while senior Marcos Pujols drove in a run.
 
The Flyers fall to 7-5 this season, while Milwaukee improves to 5-6. The Flyers left 13 runners on base and committed five errors defensively in the loss.
 
ON THE MOUND
Graduate student Kenny Serwa opened the game, pitching the first 3.2 innings on the mound allowing just two earned runs and striking out two. Redshirt junior Cody Whitten entered the game in the fourth for Serwa, facing two batters and getting Dayton to the fifth inning.
 
Manfredi opened the fifth for Dayton and was in control the rest of the way, picking up a career high in strikeouts and retiring 15 of the 18 batters he faced in his five innings of work.
 
SCORING PLAYS
Top 3: (3-0 Panthers)
Back-to-back singles led off the third inning for Milwaukee. An error by Pujols at first drove in the first run of the game and another single and a sacrifice fly made it 3-0.
 
Top 4: (6-0 Panthers)
Milwaukee led off the inning with a home run before Serwa retired the next two Panthers. A two-out double followed by a throwing error by Serwa led to the fifth run of the game, and an error by third baseman Mason Dobie extended the deficit to six runs for the Flyers.
 
Bottom 9: (6-2 Panthers)
Freshman David Pedanou led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk before a base hit by junior Ben Jones put two on. Junior Keagan Calero walked to load the bases, and Pujols drove in the first run of the game on a fielder's choice. Jones would score on a wild pitch for the second and final run of the game for Dayton, but the Flyers were unable to bring home any more runs.
 
UP NEXT
The Flyers will return on Sunday for a doubleheader with the Panthers beginning at noon at Woerner Field at AES Ohio Stadium in Dayton.