Dayton Flyers

DAYTON, Ohio – Senior C.J. Gillman kicked off Senior Day weekend with three hits, five runs batted in, including a walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th which gave Dayton an 8-7 series-opening win over UMass on Thursday evening at Time Warner Cable Stadium.

With two out and senior Bobby Glover at third base, Gillman hit a 2-1 count into shallow right field. UMass first baseman Nik Campero fielded the play and threw to pitcher Leif Sorenson (3-4) who was narrowly beat to the bag by a sprawled-out Gillman to ensure the game-winning hit and run batted in.

“Bobby started that inning with a great at-bat – you almost expect him to get on base in that situation because he has been so reliable through the years,” Head Coach Tony Vittorio said. “And since the day C.J. arrived on campus he has always hustled and played at a high speed. His walk-off hit in the 11th epitomized his attitude and effort he shows consistently.”

Gillman finished with five RBI on a 3-for-6 day at the plate to increase his league-leading RBI total to 58. Glover, who reached base on an infield single in the 11th and advanced on two out grounds, also finished 3-for-6 with two runs driven in and two runs scored.

Fellow senior Brian Blasik joined the three-hit brigade, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored, an RBI and a stolen base. Blasik now has 31 stolen bases, already a single-season program record, and is poised to overtake UD’s career stolen bases record, needing three to tie Michael Massa’s (2004-07) mark of 63.

Senior Burny Mitchem (3-7) earned his first win in 12 appearances after closing the game with 3 1/3 shutout innings of two-hit baseball with four strikeouts. UMass reliever Sorenson pitched an effective 2 2/3 innings with two hits allowed, despite giving up the game-winning run in the 11th.

Six of UD starter Mike Hauschld’s seven runs allowed (four earned) came in a six-run third inning for the Minutemen. The only other inning in which UMass scored was in eighth. Hauschild, a senior from Beavercreek, Ohio, finished his last outing at Time Warner Cable Stadium after 7 2/3 innings pitched and five strikeouts.

After UMass scored six runs in the third inning, Dayton responded with three runs in the bottom-half of the inning and ended the game on a 6-1 run.

The Minutemen were led by nine-hole hitter Rich Graef, who went 3-for-5 with a run batted in and run scored.

Coming into the series, Dayton and UMass were tied at fourth place in the A-10. The Flyers improve to 23-27 and 12-7 in league play as the Minutemen fall to 19-18 and 11-8.

“I felt like today was an ugly win for us, but they are all big wins in conference play,” Vittorio said. “There is a lot of parity in the A-10 this season – anybody can beat everybody this season so it is important to protect our field and win at home.”

The three-game series resumes on Friday at 1 p.m. ET. Before a 12 p.m. ET first pitch on Saturday, the program will honor a group of 10 graduating seniors for Senior Day.