SPORTS

 

Davidson built an early five-run lead Sunday afternoon, but Dayton took over from there to spoil the Wildcats’ chances at an Atlantic 10 weekend sweep.

The Flyers prevailed 11-5 and ended Davidson’s win streak at 10 games. The Wildcats also saw their home winning streak stopped at 21 games, one shy of the nation’s best active mark (Wright State).

John Hosmer and Ruben Fontes each hit their eighth home runs of the season Sunday, as the Wildcats closed the series with 10 blasts, with half coming from the duo of team leaders.

On Sunday, Hosmer’s solo shot sailed out to right in the first to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. It was his second homer of the series, after he hit a two-run shot in Saturday’s 12-9 win.

Fontes went deep for the third straight game, this time with a solo blast to right center to make it 5-0 in the third.

Dayton scored in all but one inning from there, however, including three runs in the fourth and four in the fifth, taking the lead on a three-run homer by Riley Tirotta.

On Saturday, Ruben Fontes and Trevor Candelaria hit back-to-back solo home runs in the third inning to put Davidson ahead, and Henry Koehler, John Hosmer and Jacob Hinderleider added two-run shots to keep the Wildcats in front.

Blake Hely threw six innings and struck out nine, while allowing four earned runs, and Nolan DeVos recorded the final five outs, including three strikeouts, to notch his seventh save and fifth in two weeks.

Saturday’s win also included a 40-minute lighting delay between the eighth and ninth innings.

“A lot of guys had productive at-bats and did things well on the bases,” said Wildcats coach Rucker Taylor. “We played solid defense most of the day. Blake was able to extend his outing a little, and that was helpful. Nolan did a nice job at the end after the delay.” 

Fontes and Hosmer now lead the Wildcats with seven home runs apiece. Fontes’ solo blast to lead off the third broke a 3-3 tie, and Candelaria followed by belting the ball high down the left field line and into the trees. Koehler’s round-tripper made it 7-3 in the fifth, and Hosmer’s sixth-inning homer down the line in left extended the lead to 9-3. After Dayton rallied with five runs in the seventh, Hinderleider homered for the second game in a row and pushed the Wildcats’ lead to 11-8. Candelaria added an RBI-single in the eighth to finish the day with three RBIs.

Alex Fedje-Johnson led off the first with a triple off the wall, and it was the only hit in a three-run Wildcats’ first.

Up Next
The Wildcats will visit VCU for a four-game A-10 series next weekend, beginning Friday, April 16 in Richmond, Va.