EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Freshman Denton Sagerman (1-1) earned his first collegiate win as Dayton defeated Evansville 9-5 to clinch the three-game series on Sunday afternoon at Braun Stadium.
Sagerman entered a tie game in the sixth inning with runners at the corners and no outs. The Olmsted Falls, Ohio native struck out his first batter, forced a pop-out and groundout to end the inning. Sagerman would retire 11 of his 13 batters faced on Sunday, only allowing two walks.
The 5-5 tie carried into the ninth inning, when Dayton poured on four runs to take the go-ahead 9-5 lead. A string of four consecutive singles was started by Mel Skochdopole and Josh Jeffery which put runners at first and second. Bobby Glover then drove in Skochdopole to score UD’s go-ahead run for a 6-5 lead.
UD added to its lead in the ninth as Robby Sunderman drove in two runs on a single through the left side for an 8-5 lead. Gillman added to his conference-leading RBI total with a two-out RBI single.
Sunderman tied a career-high three hits (3-for-5) with two runs scored and two runs driven in on Sunday to lead the Flyers. Gillman finished with two hits (2-for-4) and three RBI.
Freshman A.J. Ryan registered a career-high four hits, going 4-for-4 with two runs scored.
Dayton (19-22) won its third consecutive three-game weekend series after Sunday's victory. Evansville falls to 24-16 on the season.
The Flyers return to action on Tuesday at Wright State.
Notes
• C.J. Gillman has started in 100 consecutive games for Dayton. The Littleton, Colo., native has started in every UD game since transferring from Garden City (Kan.) Community College for the 2011 season. Gillman, Bobby Glover and Brian Blasik have started in all of UD’s 41 games this season.
• With 16 hits on Sunday, Dayton has recorded 15 hits or more five times this season and twice during the Evansville series. Dayton leads the A-10 with a .306 batting average and 454 hits.
• Dayton was caught stealing three times, tying a season-high. The nation’s leader in stolen bases (116) has only been caught stealing multiple times in five games this season. UD did not record a stolen base for the first time in 13 games.
