The Dayton baseball team took two of its three games in a series against George Washington over the weekend which featured plenty of solid hitting.
The series generated a staggering 41 combined runs, which allowed several players to earn weekly awards. Senior Aaron Dunsmore set the tone early in the first game with three hits and two runs batted in, as the Flyers upset the Colonials, 7-2, on Friday to put them above .500.
Dunsmore won Atlantic 10 Player of the Week honors with a .643 batting average and five stolen bases. He collected seven hits over the series, helping Dayton outscore GW, 27-5, in the series’ first two games.
Despite scoring another 16 runs on Saturday, the top performance of the game went to Flyers’ pitcher, Cameron Hobson, who hurled seven innings of one-run ball, striking out 11, as the bullpen secured Hobson’s second win of the season during Game 2 of the series.
In Game 3, Eric Cantrell delivered his Colonials the win with 16 strikeouts in seven innings of work. He also collected his second pitching award of the season, as he earned the Atlantic 10 Co-Pitcher of the Week.
Cantrell’s 16 strikeouts came within two of tying the school’s record for a single game, set by Jodie Wampler in 1970. With the win, GW improved to 7-2 in the A-10, gearing up for another non-conference game this week.
Explorers roll past Xavier
La Salle was originally predicted to finish at the bottom of the basement once again this season, but surprised critics with two conference victories over the weekend against Xavier, including a comeback win on Saturday.
The Explorers trailed 3-0 going into the seventh frame and needed to find their offense quickly. They capitalized on timely hitting, driving home three runs in the seventh and eighth innings, adding six more in the top of the ninth.
La Salle’s John Malloy saw his on-base streak of 48 games and his 24-game A-10 hitting streak come to an end Sunday. Malloy (241 hits), who collected two RBIs in the win Saturday, is currently fifth all-time at La Salle in hits.
Richard earns ROW honor
For his third time this season, XU left-hander Jon Richard earned A-10 Rookie of the Week honors Monday. Richard has become a leader of the Musketeer pitching staff, leading the team in wins (five), and placing second on the team in innings pitched (46) while giving up fewer hits this season so far than innings pitched.
In Xavier’s only win in the series, Richard tossed seven innings of shut-out ball as it improved to four wins on the season in conference play.
Scott Cournoyer can be reached at [email protected].
