Davidson College Athletics
12-13, 4-5
Dayton
15-12, 3-6
Rice's Walk-off Lifts 'Cats Past Dayton 9-8 in 12
3/29/2026 7:51:00 PM | Baseball
The dramatic win also secured first Atlantic 10 series victory of the season for Davidson, as the Wildcats (12-13 overall) improved to 4-5 in league play.
Rice came to the plate in a bases-loaded, one-out spot in the bottom of the 12th — after nearly five hours of play — and lined a single into left field, allowing Anthony Torreso to score from third and setting off a celebration.
Torreso led off the 12th with a single to right-center, moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Jamie Daly and moved to third after Matt Manjooran (walk) and Scotty Edwards (hit-by-pitch) reached.
The Flyers (15-12, 3-6) hit three home runs early and led 7-0 after two-and-a-half innings.
But the Wildcat bats came to life when Manjooran blasted a three-run shot to left in the third. A two-run homer by Torreso — his third in three series games — came in a three-run sixth, which also included a Matthew Vannoy RBI-single, and got the Wildcats within a run. Davidson pulled even at 8-8 in the seventh when Forrest Lietz reached on an RBI-fielder's choice, and a throwing error allowed a second run to score.
Davidson had a chance to win it in the ninth, loading the bases with one out, but the Flyers worked out of it.
Meanwhile, the Davidson bullpen kept the Flyers quiet, as five relievers — Brycen Champey, Will Marenghi, Carson Taggart, Simon Yochum and Garrett Pyne — covered 9.2 innings, struck out 11 and allowed only five hits and one run.
Champey kept the Wildcats in it, throwing four innings and allowing one hit and one earned run, while striking out two. Marenghi (2.0 IP) and Yochum (2.1) struck out four apiece, while Taggart and Yochum helped the Wildcats work out of a jam in the ninth, when the Flyers had runners in scoring position.
Pyne pitched an uneventful 12th to get the win, the first of his career.
Up Next
The Wildcats will play their next five games on the road, beginning Tuesday afternoon at Duke.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Pyne, Garrett (1-1)
L: COLLINS, L (1-1)
Batting:
HR: SMITH, M 1 ; MACDOUGALL R 2
RBI: SMITH, M 2 ; WOUTERS, D 1 ; MACDOUGALL R 3
SH: MACDOUGALL D 1 ; WOUTERS, D 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MACDOUGALL D 1 ; SMITH, M 1 ; LYNCH, C 1 ; STANG, B 1 ; BELLO, J 2 ; MACDOUGALL R 2
SB: SMITH, M 1 ; BELLO, J 1 ; AHLERS, T 1
HBP: STANG, B 1 ; AHLERS, T 2 ; CARPENTER, G 1
Batting:
2B: Manjooran, Matt 1
HR: Torreso, Anthony 1 ; Manjooran, Matt 1
RBI: Vannoy, Matthew 1 ; Torreso, Anthony 2 ; Manjooran, Matt 3 ; Rice, Aidan 1 ; Lietz, Forrest 1
SH: Daly, Jamie 1 ; Diaz, Fredy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Vannoy, Matthew 2 ; Torreso, Anthony 3 ; Manjooran, Matt 2 ; Loughlin, Theo 2
SB: McCullough, Will 1
HBP: Edwards, Scotty 1 ; Rice, Aidan 2 ; Brooks, Will 1
