DAYTON – The University of Dayton baseball team won the opening game against Massachusetts 13-2 on Friday afternoon at Woerner Field at AES Ohio Stadium in Dayton. The Flyers got home runs from juniors Omar Daniels and Jose Martinez and another quality start from junior Ryan Steinhauer in the win.
 
The 15 hits by the Flyers were the team's highest total in 2022, led by junior Ben Jones and graduate student Henry Strmecki, who both went 3-for-4 against the Minutemen. Jones also led the way with three RBIs, with Martinez and junior Keagan Calero also driving in a pair of runs.
 
Dayton improves to 16-18, 4-6 in conference play with the win, while UMass falls to 17-14-1, 6-4 against A-10 opponents.
 
ON THE MOUND
Steinhauer started the game for the Flyers and earned his third win of the season, allowing just one earned run in six innings on the mound. The lefty struck out six and scattered five hits in his time on the mound. It also marked Steinhauer's fourth straight start with at least six strikeouts, and he has allowed five or fewer hits in eight of his nine starts this season.
 
Senior Jake Silverstein entered for the Flyers in the seventh, finishing the game for Dayton. Silverstein tossed three scoreless innings and allowed just two hits in his time on the mound while picking up a strikeout.
 
SCORING PLAYS
Bottom 1: (3-0 Flyers)
Calero opened the game with a base hit to the shortstop and scored on a double by Strmecki two batters later. Martinez hit his fifth home run of the year to give Dayton a 3-0 lead through the first inning.
 
Bottom 2: (5-0 Flyers)
Graduate student Alexis Castillo opened the bottom of the second with a base hit to left center. Freshman Matt Maloney's base hit up the middle put two on with nobody out and Daniels reached on a bunt single to load the bases.  Calero followed that with a base hit to right field, plating a pair of runs and extending the lead to 5-0.
 
Top 3: (5-2 Flyers)
The leadoff hitter for the Minutemen reached on an error and the next batter cut Dayton's lead to three with a two-run home run.
 
Bottom 4: (9-2 Flyers)
Daniels led off the inning with his first home run in a Dayton uniform. Senior Marcos Pujols was hit by a pitch two batters later and he moved to second on a Strmecki single. Martinez walked to load the bases and a base hit by Jones scored two runs to extend the lead to 8-2. After Castillo walked to load the bases, Martinez would score from third on a passed ball to make it 9-2.
 
Bottom 6: (10-2 Flyers)
Martinez reached and advanced all the way to third on an error on a pickoff. Three straight walks brought Martinez in to score and Dayton extended the lead to eight runs.
 
Bottom 7: (13-2 Flyers)
Strmecki reached on a one-out single up the middle and Martinez walked to put two on. Jones singled through the left side, scoring Strmecki from second, with he and Martinez advancing into scoring position on the throw. Martinez scored his fourth run of the game on a passed ball and Jones would score on a sacrifice fly by senior Jay Curtis to make 13-2 and finalize the scoring.
 
UP NEXT
The Flyers will return to Woerner Field to take on UMass on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.