Dayton two victories away from berth in NCAA baseball tournament

No. 3 seed Dayton lost 4-2 to No. 4 Fordham on Friday but kept their hopes alive by eliminating No. 2 seed Davidson on Friday night with a 5-2 victory. Senior Tyler Henry, of Middletown pitched Dayton to victory against Davidson, striking out a career-high 11 batters in 7 2/3 innings.

“The first three years, everything we went through, being out here with the chance to win the ‘ship is the greatest thing ever,” Henry said in a Twitter video.

Dayton also handed Davidson its previous loss in the double-elimination tournament, 7-3 on Thursday.

Dayton (32-25-1) plays Fordham (37-22) at noon Saturday at Fordham’s Houlihan Park in Bronx, N.Y. The game will be televised on ESPN+. Fordham will win the championship if it wins that game. If Dayton wins, the teams will play a deciding game 30 minutes after the first game.

The NCAA tournament bracket will be revealed at noon Monday on ESPNU.

Dayton seeks its second A-10 championship and first since 2012 when it beat Richmond 3-0 in the final. Fordham won its first and only A-10 championship in 1998. It lost in the final in 2007.

» RELATED: Dayton seeks first title since 2012

Hunter Wolfe, who started the tournament opener Wednesday against Rhode Island, earned the save against Davidson with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless work.

Alex Brickman led the offense with two hits and was one of five players with an RBI. His single in the fifth scored Benjamin Blackwell and gave Dayton a 2-1 lead. Mitchell Garrity, Michael Cleary, Eddie Pursinger and Takahiro Yamada also drove in runs.