NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Dayton baseball team stunned No. 6-ranked Vanderbilt with a seven-run eighth inning to pull off a thrilling 8-5, come-from-behind victory Tuesday night at Hawkins Field.
 
The eighth inning was a wild one, as the FlyBoys, trailing 5-1, loaded the bases with the first three batters of the inning. The Commodores went to the bullpen and seemed to have extinguished the threat, retiring the next two batters.
 
Junior Mason Dobie changed the tide, however, rocking a two-strike ground-rule double to right-center field to bring Dayton within one at 5-4. After a walk to freshman pinch hitter David Mendez, freshman Ryan MacDougall lined a game-tying single over the second baseman, but the Flyers weren't finished yet.
 
Sophomore Alejandro Cazorla, who started the inning with a single and had already hit a home run earlier in the game, narrowly missed his second homer of the night, doubling to deep left-center field and driving in a pair. A wild pitch would bring in one more Flyer, and when the dust settled Dayton held an 8-5 advantage.
 
Senior Nick Wissman, who came in to get the Flyers out of a jam in the seventh inning, pitched the final 2.1 innings and picked up his first win of the season. The Dayton native struck out four in his longest outing of the season.
 
Cazorla led the offense with a 3-for-3 showing, driving in three runs and scoring two more. Dobie's double accounted for the Flyers' other extra-base hit on the night.
 
The win over No. 6 Vanderbilt was the first ranked win of the Jayson King era of Dayton baseball, and the first victory over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 23 Charlotte in 2007. It also marked the first win over a Top 10 opponent since 1996 when the Flyers defeated LSU.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
14 – total strikeouts for the FlyBoys, six for starter Ryan Steinhauer, four for Wissman, three for Austin Brush, and one for Anthony Hattrup
11 – batters to come to the plate in the seven-run eighth inning for the Flyers
10 – total FlyBoys to reach base in the contest
3 – hits for sophomore Alejandro Cazorla, including a home run and double
2.1 – season-high innings pitched for senior Nick Wissman
 
UP NEXT
Dayton continues its road swing against Top 10 opponents, traveling to Winston-Salem, N.C. to take on No. 1-ranked Wake Forest, Feb. 23-25.
 
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