DAYTON, Ohio – A wild pitch in the ninth inning allowed Dayton to come from behind to beat the Saint Joseph's baseball team, 5-4, at Woerner Field at Time Warner Cable Stadium on Saturday morning.
With the Hawks on top, 4-3, entering the ninth, Dayton (12-29 overall, 3-14 Atlantic 10) got a leadoff single from Aaron Huesman; pinch runner Mitch Coughlin then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and to third on a wild pitch by Lansing Veeder. After a Nick Gobert walk, Robbie Doring singled home Coughlin to tie the game. A groundout by Sergio Plasencia advanced the runners to second and third, and another wild pitch allowed Gobert to score the winning run.
Saint Joseph's (15-20 overall, 5-8 Atlantic 10) took the lead three batters into the game, as Matt Maul, Taylor Boyd, and John Brue rapped out consecutive singles to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead. Deon Stafford then hit into a double play, but Boyd came in to score to double the lead.
The Flyers got one back in the second as Alex Harris walked, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a groundout by Huesman. Dayton then tied the game in the fifth as Doring brought Matt Poland home with a sacrifice fly.
The Hawks went back ahead right away in the sixth. Brue led off with a walk, Stafford singled, and Kancylarz walked to load the bases with nobody out. Charlie Coghlin then hit into a double play, but Brue came in to score to give the Hawks the lead.
UD equalized once again in the bottom half as A.J. Ryan scored on a sacrifice fly by Poland.
Brue led off the eighth with his 11th home run of the season to put the Hawks back on top, but the Flyers would ultimately come away with the win in the bottom of the ninth.
Veeder took the loss for SJU, falling to 1-2. Bradley Horn improved to 2-4 for Dayton, allowing three walks and no hits in an inning and two-thirds of relief.
The teams will play the rubber game of the series on Sunday morning. First pitch is set for 11:00 a.m.
