DAVIDSON, N.C. - The University of Dayton and Davidson College battled in a close contest between two of the Atlantic 10's best teams Saturday afternoon, with the Wildcats hanging on to top the Flyers 5-4 at Wilson Field.
UD jumped on the board early thanks to a two-run home run from
Nolan Watson, but the Wildcats bounced back to score four unanswered runs of their own to take the lead. The FlyBoys inched closer with a run in the fourth courtesy of an RBI single from
Jay Curtis, but the crucial moment came in the sixth.
Dayton, trailing by two with the bases loaded and just one away, managed only one run on a sacrifice fly by
Mason Dobie.
The Flyers got baserunners aboard in two of the final three frames, but never further than first base.
UD's bullpen put forth a tremendous effort on the afternoon, throwing the final 5 2/3 innings and allowing just one run.
Anthony Hattrup tossed a new season-best 3.2 innings and struck out three, while
Andrew Zapka was called on with the bases loaded and nobody out in the eighth inning and escaped the jam thanks to two strikeouts and a fly out.
BY THE NUMBERS
8 - strikeouts by Dayton's bullpen (Hattrup - 3, Wissman - 2, Brush - 1, Zapka - 2)
5 - consecutive games with a home run for the Flyers
3 - home runs this season for
Nolan Watson
2 - runs scored by
Carlos Castillo
UP NEXT
Dayton and Davidson will decide the winner of the series and play the final game of the three-game set Sunday, April 16 at 12 p.m.
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