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Brian Blasik is hitting .467 when starting at first base |
GAME NOTES
DAYTON, Ohio - The University of Dayton Flyers hope to make a late push into the Atlantic 10 Championships in Camden, N.J. as they host the UMass Minutemen this weekend at Time Warner Cable Stadium in a three-game series. Dayton is 19-26 and 8-10 in conference play, and is in 10th place in the conference. They are two games out of a berth in the A-10 Tournament.
The Flyers are coming off of a 6-3 loss to the Ohio Bobcats, in which Zach Blanchette belted at two-run home run. The Flyers dropped last weekend’s series 2-1 to Xavier. In that series, UD split a Saturday twinbill with the Musketeers.
UMass is 7-3 in its last 10 games and has won four of the last five games. The Minutemen took two out of three from the George Washington Colonials and are one game out of a playoff spot. Centerfielder Brian Baudinet was honored as co-Atlantic 10 Player of the Week, and was one of the Louisville Slugger National Players of the Week according to Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
Dayton has juggled its pitching rotation to include freshman right-handed pitcher Bryce Lahrman. With the changes, LHP Cameron Hobson will open the series on Friday, Burny Mitchem will throw on Saturday and Lahrman gets the nod for Sunday.
Hobson will face left-handed pitcher Nick Serino on Friday. Hobson earned a win in his last start, pitching 7.0 innings while allowing two earned runs and striking out four. Serino is 1-5 this season with a 6.16 ERA. He leads the team with 66 strikeouts.
Mitchem battles right-handed pitcher Jared Freni on Saturday. Mitchem leads the team with 68 strikeouts, which ranks him fourth in the A-10. He had a hand in Tuesday’s staff day against Ohio, striking out two of three batters faced. Freni is 2-4 this season and has a 5.88 ERA. He has 47 strikeouts, the second highest total on the team.
Lahrman will make his seventh start of the season, and the first Atlantic 10 start of his career on Sunday at Noon. Lahrman is 2-4 this season with 27 strikeouts. He pitched effectively in 4.1 innings of relief work in the final game of the Xavier series. In that outing he allowed one earned run as the Flyers fell 12-11 to the Musketeers. He will face Bryan Leigh who is 4-4 this season with a 5.70 ERA. Leigh also has pitched two complete games and holds the lowest ERA of any regular UMass starter.
First pitch is slated for 3:00 p.m. ET on Friday. Mike Ivcic will broadcast the entire series on 1660 AM and www.DaytonFlyers.com. Admission to Time Warner Cable Stadium is free of charge.
