DAVIDSON, N.C. - Carlos Castillo and Marcos Pujols both slugged home runs to power the University of Dayton baseball team past Atlantic 10 foe Davidson, 8-4, in the series opener on a damp Friday night at Wilson Field.

Inclement weather delayed the start of the game by over two hours, but the FlyBoys came out swinging against the Wildcats' ace, getting three straight hits from Ben Jones, Paxton Tomaini and Pujols to jump ahead early.

Pujols moved into third all-time in career home runs when he crushed his ninth of the season and 36th of his career in the third frame. Two batters later, Castillo picked up the first of four RBI on the night with a run-scoring single to drive home Nolan Watson.

Castillo provided crucial insurance runs in the fifth when he hammered his fifth home run of the season, and that would be all the Flyers needed as they'd hold on to win 8-4.

Dayton's pitching staff brought the good stuff Friday night, as starter Mark Manfredi had a nine-strikeout performance, his second of A-10 action, and allowed three runs in 5.1 innings of work. In total, the Flyer quartet of Manfredi, Nick Wissman, Parker Bard and Andrew Zapka combined for a season-high 16 strikeouts, while the relief corps surrendered just one run over the final 3.2 innings.

BY THE NUMBERS
14 - a new season-high in strikeouts for Dayton pitching
14 - runners stranded by Davidson in the game
9 - strikeouts for Mark Manfredi, tying a career-best
4 - RBI for Carlos Castillo, a new career-high
2 - consecutive games Marcos Pujols has hit home runs

UP NEXT
The FlyBoys continue their series with Davidson Saturday, April 14 at 2 p.m.

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