Flyers softball shut down George Washington in 2-0 win in first game of Atlantic 10 tournament
The Dayton Flyers softball team upset top-seeded George Washington 2-0 on Thursday, putting themselves into the winner’s bracket. Photo courtesy of UD Athletics.
Peter Burtnett
Sports Editor
The Dayton Flyers softball team upset George Washington 2-0 Thursday in first game of the Atlantic 10 tournament in Philadelphia, putting themselves into the winner’s bracket and a win away from the Championship Game.
In the top of the second inning, the Flyers got a single from sophomore outfielder Emily Daniel, who was moved up to second base on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore second baseman Ali Weekly. Senior outfielder Briley Sidor singled to put runners on the corners, and one batter later, freshman shortstop Megan Ward tripled down the left field line to score Daniel and Sidor.
The Colonials threatened in the bottom of the third inning, loading the bases with two outs. Freshman starting pitcher Addy Bullis was able to force a fly out to center field, escaping the jam.
Bullis was pulled after hitting a Colonials batter in the bottom of the sixth inning with one out. The stand-out freshman finished with 5 ⅓ innings pitched, and allowed 4 hits and 2 walks.
Sophomore closing pitcher Sarah Bailitz replaced Bullis, and got two quick outs to close the inning. In the bottom of the seventh, Bailitz struck out the first Colonial, but walked the next. Bailitz made a solid play to get the out at first, but a fielding error put runners on the corners with two outs. A ground ball to shortstop was fielded cleanly and thrown to second base for a force out, giving the Flyers a big win over the Colonials.
With the 2-0 win, the Flyers pull an upset over the No. 1 team and advance to tomorrow’s game(s), where they will have a chance to win and advance to the A-10 Championship Game. If they lose tomorrow at noon, they will have a second chance at 2:30 p.m. against the winner of Thursday’s “loser bracket” game.
Before the game, Ward and Bullis were both named to the A-10 Second and All-Rookie teams, and junior infielder Alyssa Cacini was named to the First Team.
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