April 29, 2005

Final Stats

PHILADELPHIA, PA - The Dayton Flyers rebounded from a 4-3 game one loss with a 3-2 win in the nightcap of an Atlantic 10 doubleheader behind two home runs from senior Cassie Gross. The Flyers (7-7 A-10) remain in a dogfight for the final A-10 tournament spot.

After dropping the first game, UD needed a win to stay in the hunt for an tournament berth, and Gross stepped up with two home runs, driving in all three runs for UD.

With one out in the first inning of game two, Shannon St. Clair was hit with a pitch. One batter later, Gross hit a shot to left field for her seventh home run of the season.

Temple tied the game in the bottom of the third with three singles and a double.

But Gross led off the sixth inning with another shot to left, her eighth homer of the year, and Melissa Myher put down six of the last seven Temple batters to hold on for the win.

Myher gave up two earned runs on six hits with two strikeouts. Gross went two-for-three. St. Clair went one-for-two and Tami Roudebush added a one-for-three game for UD.

In game one, Dayton scored first in the top of the second. After St. Clair walked, Tamsyn Kellough and Gross followed with back-to-back doubles for a 2-0 lead.

But the Owls answered with two in the bottom of the inning on three singles.

Dayton pushed ahead with a run in the sixth when Christina Vetter and Cortney Schafer each singled. Christine Eggers singled to center and when the ball was mishandled, Vetter came in to score. But the Flyers stranded the bases loaded after a walk to St. Clair.

In the bottom of the seventh, Temple put together two one-out singles, and an error loaded the bases. TU's Brandie Mora promptly doubled to left center for the tying and winning runs.

The Flyers are now 18-17-1 overall, and 7-7 in league play.

Temple falls to 15-28 overall and 3-11 in the A-10.

Dayton heads to A-10 leader Fordham for the final two games of the conference season on Sunday. The Flyers must sweep Fordham or get help from St. Bonaventure in the Bonnies' series with Saint Joseph's. Saint Joseph's and Dayton are tied for fourth with a .500 winning percentage, but SJU has a 6-6 record with two games to play.

The Flyers would need to finish with a higher win percentage than the Hawks, as SJU owns the tie-breaker if the two teams finish with .500 records.

Sweeping Fordham would put UD into the field, while a split against the Rams would require a St. Bonaventure sweep for the Flyers to gain entry to the Atlantic 10 Championship, which begins May 11 in Kingston, RI.