May 21, 2009

Box Score

DAYTON, Ohio - Rightfielder Aaron Dunsmore went 4-for-5 and freshman Cameron Hobson notched his seventh win of the season as top-seeded Dayton displayed a potent offensive attack in its 9-5 win over No. 4 Massachusetts on Thursday afternoon at the 2009 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship from Fifth Third Field.

Winners of a program-record 38 games and seeking their first-ever A-10 crown, the Flyers will face the winner of the XU-URI contest at Noon on Friday. UMass will square off against No. 6 Charlotte later this evening in an elimination game for both teams.

Dunsmore drove in three runs and laced a pair of doubles as six of Dayton's 15 hits on the afternoon went for extra bases.

"I think offensively the whole game, except maybe an inning or two, we kept a lot of pressure on them and that was the difference in the game," said Dayton's Tony Vittorio, the 2009 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year.

First baseman Marshall MacDonald went 3-for-5 with three runs and scored his two-run double in the first off UMass starter Nick Serino (5-4) gave the Flyers a 2-1 advantage. Leading 4-3 in the fourth, MacDonald doubled just over the outstretched glove of sophomore Kyle Multner in leftfield and came around to score on an RBI double by Dunsmore.

The Flyers (38-17) tacked on two more runs in the sixth as second baseman Zach Jacob led off with a double and scored on Dunsmore's second RBI double of the afternoon. Two batters later, pinch hitter Jonathan Castine lined a single to left off righthander Mitchell Eilenberg to push their advantage to 7-3. Meanwhile, Hobson settled in after allowing a run in the first on senior Jim Macdonald's RBI double high off the wall in center.

The freshman southpaw yielded four runs (three earned) on five hits over 7.2 innings. Named the 2009 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, Hobson recorded five strikeouts to raise his total to 83 on the year, the highest single-season total in team history.

"I wasn't trying to get the strikeout record, it was more about getting the win for the team," said Hobson, who set a Championship record with six hit batsmen, one shy of the NCAA record.

"We got a few runs in that first inning so that really settled me down and I got into a good comfortable pace."

The Minutemen (26-25) were led by first baseman Mike Gedman, who collected two hits on the afternoon and scored a pair of runs. Serino allowed four runs on six hits over 1.2 innings before leaving the contest due to injury. Eilenberg yielded five runs in 6.1 innings of relief.