ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The University of Dayton baseball team dropped two games of a doubleheader at St. Bonaventure on Saturday afternoon. The Flyers fell 6-5 in the series opener and 4-3 in game two in extra innings. Freshman Matt Maloney drove in four runs between the two contests at Fred Handler Park.
 
Senior Marcos Pujols homered for the ninth time this season in the first game of the doubleheader and picked up three hits between the two games. Senior Jay Curtis also got three hits for the Flyers in the two games against the Bonnies.
 
Dayton falls to 18-24 overall, 6-11 in Atlantic 10 play, while St. Bonaventure improves to 5-31 on the season and 3-14 against conference opponents.
 
GAME ONE
ON THE MOUND
Junior Ryan Steinhauer started the game for the Flyers, pitching the first inning, allowing two runs on two hits before sophomore Eli Majick entered the game in relief. Majick would get the first two outs of the second inning, allowing four earned runs. Graduate student Nick Meyer would finish the second and go the next 2.1 innings, allowing just one hit in his scoreless time on the mound.
 
Meyer went for his longest outing of the year, striking out four Bonnies in his time on the mound. Sophomore Parker Bard entered for Meyer, pitching the next two scoreless innings, picking up a strikeout.
 
Junior Nick Wissman entered in the seventh with two on and no one out and would go on to pick off the runner on second and get a first-pitch double play, retiring the side on one pitch. Junior Nick Maue would enter in the eighth and finish the game for the Flyers, pitching a scoreless inning and picking up two strikeouts.
 
SCORING PLAYS
Bottom 1: (1-0 Bonnies)
A one-out single and a walk put two on. Steinhauer would strike out the next St. Bonaventure batter, but back-to-back walks put the Bonnies on the board.
 
Top 2: (2-1 Flyers)
Redshirt junior Alex Neff reached on a one-out single and senior Jake Silverstein would follow with a single of his own. A wild pitch moved the runners up a base and a double from Maloney gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead.
 
Bottom 2: (6-2 Bonnies)
A leadoff walk and a fielder's choice put a runner on first and one out. A base hit and a hit by pitch loaded the bases and a walk tied the game. A base hit up the middle followed by a double brought in four more runs, giving St. Bonaventure a 6-2 lead.
 
Top 4: (6-3 Bonnies)
Neff drew a one-out walk and Silverstein replaced him on a fielder's choice. Maloney's second double of the game cut the deficit to three.
 
Top 5: (6-4 Bonnies)
The 26^th career home run by Pujols to center field made it a 6-4 deficit in the fifth.
 
Top 6: (6-5 Bonnies)
Neff drew another walk to lead off the sixth. Maloney's third hit of the day two batters later moved him to third and junior Omar Daniels cut the lead to one with a sacrifice fly to finalize the scoring for the first game.
 
GAME TWO
ON THE MOUND
Junior Mark Manfredi started game two for the Flyers, going six strong innings and allowing two runs on five hits. It marked his sixth quality start in his last seven outings. He has also allowed two or fewer walks in all eight of his starts this season.
 
Junior Anthony Hattrup entered for Manfredi in the seventh, allowing one unearned run on one hit in his one inning on the mound. Silverstein would pitch the next two scoreless innings for Dayton, striking out three and allowing just two hits.
 
Junior Thomas Braybrooks would enter in the tenth, allowing one run on one hit in his one-third of an inning on the mound.
 
SCORING PLAYS
Bottom 5: (2-0 Bonnies)
Manfredi retired the first batter of the inning, but a double followed by a single and an error put the Flyers down 1-0. Another base hit up the middle brought home the second run of the inning.
 
Top 6: (2-1 Bonnies)
Silverstein led off the sixth with a double down the left field line. He would advance to third on a fly out by junior Jose Martinez and Pujols reached on an infield single, scoring Silverstein making it a 2-1 game.
 
Top 7: (3-2 Flyers)
Graduate student Henry Strmecki reached on an infield single and two batters later senior Jay Curtis hit his first career triple, scoring Strmecki and tying the game. Maloney would drive in his fourth run of the day with a sacrifice fly to center, giving Dayton a 3-2 lead.
 
Bottom 8: (3-3 Tie)
A leadoff walk put a runner on base. A strikeout gave the Flyers their first out, but a base hit followed by an error tied the game at three.
 
Bottom 10: (4-3 Bonnies)
Braybrooks struck out the first batter of the inning, but a walk followed by a double in the right center gap brought in the winning run for St. Bonaventure, finalizing the score.
 
UP NEXT
The Flyers will return on Sunday at noon for the series finale. There will be live stats as well as an ESPN+ stream available for fans.