April 23, 2011

Box Score

CAMDEN, N.J. - Chad Simendinger pitched well into the eighth inning, but a pair of runs in the top half of that frame allowed Dayton to pull out a 3-1 victory over the Saint Joseph's baseball team on Saturday night at Campbell's Field.

Saint Joseph's (14-24, 5-9 Atlantic 10) scored first as Kevin Kratochwill lofted a ball to center that got past a diving Bobby Glover for a triple, allowing Brett Tiagwad to score from first with two outs to open the scoring.

Tiagwad then made a stellar defensive play with two outs in the fifth as he dove into the gap in left center to grab a sinking line drive and rob Jimmy Roesinger of an extra base hit and preserve the one-run lead.

Dayton (22-18, 7-4 Atlantic 10) finally broke through with two away in the seventh as Danny Welch reached on an infield single and came around to score when Roesinger followed with a double off the wall in left center.

The Flyers took a two-run lead in the eighth on just one hit as a walk, a fielder's choice, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly pushed a pair across and gave Dayton a 3-1 advantage.

UD starter Burny Mitchem finished things off for the Flyers, going the distance for his first complete game of the season. He improved to 4-2 on the season by allowing just four hits and one walk against six strikeouts.

Simendinger (2-5) took the hard-luck loss for the Hawks after being charged with all three Flyer runs in his seven-plus innings of work. He also allowed just four hits and one walk while fanning four. Simendinger retired 13 consecutive hitters at one point, a span that lasted from the second inning until the sixth.

Bryan Penalo came on in relief of Simendinger and achieved a rare feat - in the top of the ninth, he notched four strikeouts, as Roesinger went down swinging but reached on a wild pitch. Penalo then fanned Mike Coughlin to retire the side.

The teams will play the rubber game of the series on Sunday at Campbell's Field. First pitch for the Easter Sunday tilt is set for 2:00 p.m.