April 11, 2006

After vaulting itself into a tie for fourth place in the Atlantic 10 Conference standings, Dayton will take on a pair of teams from the Mid-American Conference this week. UD hosts Ball State Tuesday at Time Warner Cable Stadium in a 3 p.m. ET game. Then the Flyers head to Bowling Green for a 3 p.m. ET start on Wednesday. Both games can be followed live with Gametracker on www.DaytonFlyers.com.

UD has won six straight games behind an offense that is averaging 13.5 runs per game while hitting .379 as a team with 27 extra base hits including six home runs and 14 stolen bases during the stretch.

Last week also saw the best back-to-back games in Dayton offensive history as UD beat IPFW, 28-7, and Richmond, 27-17. The offensive outputs marked the first time in school history that the Flyers tallied more than 25 runs in consecutive games played. In fact during the win over the Spiders every Flyer batter that stepped to the plate had at least two hits in the game including Michael DeLuca who entered in the eighth inning as a defensive replacement and was 2-for-2 with a walk, run scored and an RBI.

Junior Michael Massa was named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Week on Monday after setting the table for the offense from the leadoff spot in the lineup. He has reached base nine of 12 times he led off an inning over the past six games and has scored eight of those times with four runs coming in the first inning. Last week, Massa hit .421 with 10 runs scored and nine RBI overall with four extra-base hits, five walks and five stolen bases to earn his first Atlantic 10 weekly honor.

Also before the start of Tuesday's game at Time Warner Cable Stadium, UD Head Coach Tony Vittorio will be honored for earning his 400th career victory during Dayton's last home game on Apr. 2 against St. Bonaventure. Vittorio is in his 14th year overall as a collegiate head coach and holds a 404-376 record overall including 180 victories in six years at the helm of the Flyers.

UD resumes Atlantic 10 Conference play this weekend with a trip to Pittsburgh for a three-game series with Duquesne. The Flyers and Dukes will square off Friday (3 p.m. ET), Saturday (1 p.m. ET) and Sunday (Noon ET) with all three games hosted live with Gametracker on www.DaytonFlyers.com.