Dayton needs one victory Saturday to win first A-10 softball title

It will be Dayton’s first appearance in the championship series since 2015 when it had to win two games on the final day but lost 8-2 to No. 3 seed Fordham in the first game. That was also the year Dayton won its first regular-season championship.

After losing to Dayton, Fordham (37-10) lost 8-1 to George Washington in the second semifinal Friday. Fordham had won the last six completed A-10 tournaments. The final game of the 2019 tournament was cancelled by rain, and Fordham and George Washington were declared co-champions. There was no tournament in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Dayton, the No. 4 seed, followed a 2-0 upset of George Washington on Thursday with a rout of Fordham, a team it didn’t play in the regular season. The Flyers scored four runs in the third inning and two in the fourth to build a 6-0 lead.

Megan Gist got the Flyers on the board with a solo home run with one out in the third. Later in the inning, a bases-loaded double by Taylor Erschen scored three runs.

In the fourth, Megan Ward doubled in a run, and a single by Alyssa Cacini brought in the sixth run. Ward had three of Dayton’s 10 hits.

On the mound, Addy Bullis made the lead stand up, allowing one run on three hits in seven innings. She struck out five. She also started Thursday and did not allow a run in 5 1/3 innings.