Softball: Dayton loses seventh straight season opener
Staff Report
The University of Dayton softball team fell in its season opener 9-8 during the University of California Santa Barbara Gaucho Classic Friday, Feb. 7, in Santa Barbara, Calif., against tournament host UC Santa Babara.
Dayton trailed 5-2 and was down to its final out in the top of the seventh before three consecutive RBI doubles with a runner on first tied the game at five. Two more singles gave UD a one-run lead heading into the bottom half of the inning.
A lead-off solo home run by UCSB freshman shortstop Emily Brucelas tied the game at six and sent it to extra innings.
In the ninth, senior shortstop Jordan Jennings gave UD an 8-6 lead on her two-RBI double to right center.
The bottom half of the inning saw UCSB squeeze home a run. After a single, sophomore catcher MeShalon Moore hit a sac fly to center to tie the game at eight.
With two outs and runners at second and third, senior first baseman Lauren Boser doubled home the winning run to complete the walk-off win.
The loss was the seventh straight to open a season for Dayton. The last time the Flyers began a season with a win came March 11, 2007, in a 2-0 victory over Rider University in Orlando, Fla.
No. 11 Texas A&M 10, Dayton 4
Junior first baseman Tiffany Ricks went 2 for 4 with three RBIs, but Dayton dropped its second game Friday against nationally ranked Texas A&M University 10-4.
Dayton scored two runs in the top of the fifth trailing 5-2, but a five-run bottom half of the inning for the Aggies was too much to overcome.
CSU Bakersfield 1, Dayton 0
Freshman pitcher Gabrielle Snyder pitched a one-run complete game, but received no offensive help in a 1-0 loss to California State University, Bakersfield Saturday, Feb. 8.
An unearned run in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by CSUB sophomore centerfielder Sydney Raeber to center proved to be the game’s only score.
Dayton was held to three hits by CSUB junior pitcher Kelsie Monroe and Raeber.
UD got two runners on to begin the bottom of the seventh, but Raeber came in on relief and retired three straight hitters for her first save of the season.
Texas A&M 7, Dayton 1
A five-run rally for the second time in three days by Texas A&M provided the insurance runs needed to defeat Dayton Sunday, Feb. 9.
Up 2-1 entering the sixth inning, the Aggies got an early RBI single before busting the game open. With the bases loaded, Snyder entered the game as a relief pitcher, but walked home sophomore pinch hitter Breanna Dozier.
Following a line out for the second out of the inning, freshman second baseman April Ryan cleared the bases with a triple for three more runs.
Senior catcher Kasi Vazquez, who led UD in home runs last season, hit Dayton’s first long ball of the year for her team’s only run in the fourth.
CSU Bakersfield 4, Dayton 1
Dayton closed the weekend in California still without a win after dropping a 4-1 decision in its final game of the Gaucho Classic Sunday.
Junior pitcher Kayla English went six innings for a complete game. She surrendered only one earned run after three crossed the plate in the third following a throwing error by Jennings set up a CSUB rally.
Ricks led off the top of the fourth with a solo home run, but Raeber retired the final six batters of the game for her second save.