DAYTON – The University of Dayton baseball team finished the 2024 regular season with a comeback victory over Rhode Island on Saturday afternoon, topping the Rams 5-3 at Woerner Field at AES Ohio Stadium.
 
The FlyBoys, who fell 16-10 in the second game of the series that had to be completed to start Saturday, secure the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Atlantic 10 Tournament
 
Dayton 5 Rhode Island 3
Dayton executed small ball to perfection in the first inning, as Keagan Calero and David Pedanou got things started with back-to-back singles, then gave the Flyers the lead on a double steal that plated Calero.
 
The Flyers added another in the third to go ahead 2-0 when Calero came home on a David Mendez sacrifice fly.
 
Rhode Island charged back with three unanswered runs in the fourth and fifth innings, but UD didn't let the lead last long. The FlyBoys once again manufactured a run in the home half of the fifth, as Michael Adair scored on a sacrifice fly by David Pedanou to knot the score at 3-3.
 
Both teams remained scoreless until the eighth when Dayton did its final damage. Calero led off the inning with a single and quickly advanced to second on a steal. Mendez came through once again, smacking a grounder through the right side to put the Flyers ahead. The freshman would come around to score the final run of the game when Eddie Yamin IV singled him home.
 
The pitching staff was spectacular for UD on the afternoon, as senior Ryan Steinhauer came through with a quality start of 6.2 innings and just three runs allowed while striking out a pair. Junior Jacob McGovern finished off the seventh for Steinhauer, then senior Austin Brush threw the final two frames to pick up his second win of the season.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
32 – wins on the season for the FlyBoys, matching a King-era best
31– active on-base streak for David Pedanou, who went 2-for-3 in the contest 
12 – multi-RBI games for David Mendez, who had two today
6.2 – innings pitched by Ryan Steinhauer, tying a season-high for innings pitched
3 –  runs scored by Keagan Calero, who went 2-for-3 at the plate
2 – innings of scoreless relief for Austin Brush, who got the win
 
Rhode Island 16 Dayton 10
In a game that was suspended at the start of the home half of the eighth inning, Rhode Island came out swinging and walked away with a 16-10 victory.
 
It was a homer-happy contest, as both teams smacked four in the contest. For Dayton, David Pedanou, Eddie Yamin IV, Carlos Castillo and Alejandro Cazorla left the yard.
 
Pedanou finished the game 4-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBI, while Castillo turned in a 3-for-5 performance with three RBI. Yamin added a 2-for-4 showing, scoring three runs and driving in three more, and Cazorla also had a two-hit game, going 2-for-3 with a run scored and two RBI.
 
UP NEXT
Dayton has secured the No. 3 seed and will take on No. 6 seed Massachusetts on Tuesday, May 21 at 7 p.m. at Capital One Park in Tysons, Va.
 
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