May 15, 2005

Box Score

CINCINNATI - With two-runs in the seventh inning, Dayton secured a berth in the Atlantic 10 Tournament as the Flyers beat Xavier 3-1 in the opener of an A-10 doubleheader Sunday at Hayden Field.

UD improved to 29-20 overall and 12-7 in conference play and clinched its third-ever trip to the Atlantic 10 Championships to be held at Dragons Stadium in Downtown Dayton, May 25-28. With the loss, XU fell to 18-32, 8-14 A-10 and was eliminated from postseason contention.

Junior Craig Stammen was in control for most of the game on the mound for Dayton as he lifted his record to 7-6 with a complete-game victory. Stammen surrendered just one run on four hits in his seventh complete game of the season. He also fanned three batters and moved into third place on the UD career strikeout list with 175.

The Dayton offense was held without a hit for the first 5.1 innings and just four hits overall, but made the most of its opportunities. Aaron Hepner finished 1-for-2 with the game-winning double and a run scored in the seventh inning.

Bobby Getty and Joe McSoley were each 1-for-3 with a run scored for the Flyers. Michael Massa singled in the seventh inning to extend his hitting streak to a personal-best of 12 games.

Both pitchers were dominant for most of the game but Xavier was able to turn a lead off walk into its only run of the game in the bottom of the third.

Dayton broke through in the sixth inning to even the score. With one out, Getty singled to break up Xavier's no-hit bid. Then as he attempted to steal second, the throw ended up in centerfield and Getty finished on third base. After William Benoit walked, senior Brandon Godzik chopped a ground ball that allowed Getty to knot the score at 1-1.

The Flyers then took over the game in the seventh. McSoley singled to leadoff the inning and then scored from first on a double to the right centerfield gap by Hepner. Hepner then moved to third on a single by Massa and scored on a sacrifice fly to left by Galen Schumm to give UD a 3-1 victory and a berth in the A-10 Championships.