Courtesy of GoBonnies.com
DAYTON, Ohio – After over four hours of baseball including 12 innings and 37 combined hits it was Dayton that came out on top in a wild Atlantic 10 contest Sunday afternoon, defeating the St. Bonaventure baseball team, 13-12.
St. Bonaventure’s attempt for a series sweep of the Flyers appeared to be in good shape after the Bonnies plated six runs in the fourth inning including RBI hits from Ted Dilts andTaishi Terashima for a 7-2 lead.
Dayton responded with three runs in the home half of the fourth to cut within 7-5, but the Bonnies tacked on with a run in the sixth with a sac fly from Tyler Walter, and moved ahead, 10-5 following a two-run homer off the bat of David Vaccaro in the seventh.
Things came apart in the last of the seventh, however, as the Flyers sent 12 men to the plate, scoring seven runs on five hits with three runs coming home on walks as Dayton moved ahead, 12-10.
St. Bonaventure had a rally left, quickly tying the game once more in the eighth whenThad Johnson doubled home Terashima and then a sac fly from Cole Peterson evened the score at 12 apiece.
The Bonnies then had a golden opportunity in the ninth – Vaccaro reached on an infield single followed by a hit to left from Jared Baldinelli. A wild pitch put runners at second and third with no outs, and following a ground out, Terashima was intentionally walked to load the bases. A double play ball killed the inning for the Brown and White, though, and the game would go to extras.
Dayton threatened to end it in the 10th, putting a runner at second with one out, but Bona reliever Nate Grant got out of the jam unscathed.
Once more in the 11th, the Bonnies put the potential lead run into scoring position with Baldinelli drawing a one-out walk and then stealing second. Dayton’s bullpen picked up a strikeout and a fly out to keep the score tied, however.
In the 12th, Dayton drew a leadoff infield single from Aaron Huesman. The Flyers then put runners at first and second following a sacrifice attempt that led to a fielding error, and the game would end on another Bonnies error. Cameron Silva hit a ball to third base and the Bonnies’ attempt to get the lead runner skipped away, allowing the game-winning run to score.
St. Bonaventure (16-12-1, 4-5 Atlantic 10) pounded out a season-high 19 hits as eight of the nine starters picked up at least one hit. Baldinelli, Peterson, Terashima, Dilts, Johnson and Vaccaro all had multi-hit days, led by Vaccaro’s four hits.
Nick Weybright had perhaps the best offensive day, going 5-for-6 for Dayton (12-24, 4-8).
Grant (1-3) picked up a tough-luck loss after throwing four innings of relief with no earned runs charged.
The Bonnies face Niagara on the road Tuesday for a Little Three doubleheader matchup at 2 p.m.
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