Flyers get by West Virginia, pound Kent

The UD baseball team improved its winning streak to four games, beating West Virginia 4-2 on the road Tuesday and Kent State 12-5 at Stuart Field Wednesday.

The Flyers used timely hits against the Mountaineers, as they scored four runs off only six hits. The Mountaineers out-hit the Flyers 12-6, but junior starting pitcher Corey Allen spread the hits through eight innings, giving up only two runs in his final inning of work. He forced the Mountaineers to leave 11 runners on base.

Dayton got on the board first with a run in the third inning. Junior infielder Jeff Bourassa was able to score from second base courtesy of a West Virginia error.

In the next inning, Dayton dented the plate two more times because of West Virginia mistakes. The rally started when junior catcher Mark Wahl scored off a wild pitch. Senior infielder Clint Beasley then scored when senior infielder Nate Winklefoos singled to knock him in.

The Flyer lead grew to 4-0 in the top of the eighth inning, as senior outfielder Brooks Vogel singled in junior infielder Aaron Reesh to cap off the Flyers offense.

West Virginia knocked Allen out of the game in the bottom of the eighth, scoring two runs. Senior pitcher Scott Shean entered the game in the ninth inning to slam the door on any possible West Virginia rally and preserve the 4-2 win. Winklefoos and Vogel each contributed an RBI and a hit for the Flyers. Junior designated hitter Shawn Bolinger went 2-for-4.

Allen got his first win of the season for his efforts, striking out three. Shean, who allowed only one hit in the ninth, earned his first save.

It was the first win versus West Virginia in the series history.

“We’ve had some good wins this season,” head coach Tony Vittorio said.

Wednesday, the Flyers returned to Stuart Field and crushed the Golden Flashes 12-5 for their fourth consecutive victory.

Kent State sprinted to a 5-0 lead, scoring two runs in the second inning and three more in the third. After that point though, Dayton dominated offensively and defensively.

The Flyers answered the Golden Flashes’ three-run third inning by scoring four runs in the bottom half of the inning. Three errors, two coming in one play, resulted in Bourassa and Winkelfoos scoring the first two Flyer runs. A sacrifice fly by Bolinger and a groundout by Vogel scored two more to make the score 5-4.

Dayton broke the game open after that, scoring at least one run in every inning after being held scoreless for the first two. Vogel singled in Reesh in the fifth inning to put Dayton up 6-5.

They never looked back, belting 14 hits off four Kent State pitchers.

Junior pitcher Aaron Pahs came in to relieve junior starter Jake Hanson in the fourth inning and took over the game. In six innings of work, Pahs allowed only one Golden Flash hit, striking out two and earning his first win of the season.

“We consider Aaron a three-inning reliever,” Vittorio said. “He was impressive.”

Bolinger went 3-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. Bourassa went 3-for-4 and Vogel and Schulte each knocked in two runs. Wahl also had two hits for the Flyers.

The wins this week were the Flyers’ third and fourth straight. Overall, the Flyers’ record improves to 10-12, with a 2-1 record in Atlantic 10 conference play.

“We expected it,” Vittorio said. “We’ve played well lately.”

This weekend, Dayton travels to Richmond, Ind. to participate in the Richmond Tournament with Butler, Detroit-Mercy and Xavier. Their first opponent is Detroit-Mercy Friday.

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www.FlyerNews.com
By: Matt Hager