March 24, 2008

Box Score

DAYTON, Ohio - Dayton picked up its first conference victory of the season with a 5-3 come-from-behind win over rival Xavier on Monday afternoon at Time Warner Cable Stadium. With the win, UD improved to 11-7 overall and 1-2 in Atlantic 10 action.

Max Navalinski provided the clutch offense of the day with a two-out two-RBI single in the seventh inning to give the Flyers the lead for good.

Both teams were held to just five hits on the day, but freshman Jimmy Roesinger had a single and a two-RBI double in the second inning while also walking once and stealing a base to lead the Dayton offense.

Scott Dunwoody also singled home a run and scored one of his own in the seventh while Jake Hoover singled and scored as Dayton snapped season-long three-game losing streak.

Hoover, Ryan Nevill and Marshall MacDonald were all hit by pitch to give UD 45 batters plunked in only 18 games played.

Alex Dye had another solid start in a no decision after allowing only two earned runs on five hits over 6.1 innings pitched. He struck out two and scattered four walks on the day.

Freshman Burny Mitchem picked up his first collegiate victory in relief after striking out six batters with only one walk in 2.2 innings pitched without surrendering a base hit.

Xavier scratched across a run with a two-out single off the bat of Versailles, Ohio native Zac Richard in the first inning, but Dayton would quickly respond with two runs of its own in the bottom of the second. Jake Hoover was hit by a pitch to start the inning and moved to second on a balk. He then moved to third on a wild pitch and after one out was joined on the base paths by Ryan Nevill who was also hit by a pitch. After another strikeout, Jimmy Roesinger hit a 2-2 pitch into the left field corner for a double that sent home Hoover and Nevill to give the Flyers a 2-1 edge.

The pitchers for both sides would settle in for the next few innings until a passed ball and a wild pitch allowed the Musketeers to regain the lead in the top of seventh, 3-2.

UD worked its way back into the game in the bottom of the seventh beginning with a four-pitch walk to Jimmy Roesinger. After a pitching change, Roesinger was picked off trying to get a jump into scoring position. A walk and a ground out followed to put the tying run into scoring position with one out. Scott Dunwoody lifted a 2-1 pitch into centerfield for a RBI single to plate Kevin Miller and knot the score at 3-3. Xavier went to its bullpen again and the Musketeer reliever greeted Marshall MacDonald with a pitch off his body to put runners at first and second with two outs. Jake Hoover would then load the bases with a slow ground ball that found its way through the middle of the XU infield. Max Navalinski then took advantage of the opportunity as he ripped a pinch-hit two-RBI single passed the third baseman to put Dayton ahead for good 5-3.

Burny Mitchem closed out the game by retiring the final six Musketeer batters in order to give the Flyers their first Atlantic 10 Conference victory of the season with a 5-3 decision over the Musketeers.

Dayton returns to action with a pair of non-conference games this week. UD will play host to Findlay on Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET before heading to Miami (Ohio) on Wednesday evening for a 6 p.m. ET start. Both games can be followed with Gametracker at www.DaytonFlyers.com.