Game Notes
DAYTON, Ohio – Looking to build on a record-breaking season last year, the University of Dayton baseball team opens its season on Friday at Noon against the Army Black Knights in Winston-Salem, N.C. in a road swing that also features a two-game series against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
The defending A-10 champions will test their chops early against Army, in a matchup of teams who were picked to repeat as league champion. The Black Knights finished 36-21 last season, winning the Patriot league, while advancing to a regional final for the first time in school history.
The powerful bats of seniors Dayton’s Cole Tyrell, Aaron Dunsmore and Zach Jacob will be called on for offense. Tyrell led the team last season in RBI (60) and home runs (12). Jacob was second in the A-10 with 79 hits and 56 runs scored. Dunsmore pounded 11 home runs last season while hitting .323.
The Flyers open up with Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year Cameron Hobson on the mound on Friday. Last season, Hobson broke the school record with 83 strikeouts in his freshman campaign. He carried a 7-1 record which included a 5.19 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Hobson will challenge southpaw Joey Henshaw from Army. Henshaw was 1-1 in three starts for the Black Knights last season. He averaged just under one strikeout per inning and finished the year with a 4.79 ERA.
UD will face Wake Forest on Saturday and Sunday. Last season, Wake Forest was just a 22-30 record, but is led by new head coach Tom Walter.
Dayton’s Burny Mitchem is expected to make his return to the mound on Saturday after losing most of the 2009 season to an ACL tear. In three starts, Mitchem didn’t allow an earned run until the inning which he sustained his injury. Additionally, he was named Pitcher of the Week by the Atlantic 10 in the second week of play. Mitchem was originally slated to play for the Orleans Cardinals (now Firebirds) in the Cape Cod League last summer.
Wake Forest’s freshman left-handed pitcher Tim Cooney will go against Mitchem. During his high school career he compiled a 25-6 record and helped his team to a state title in 2009.
Sunday’s starters are still up in the air for the Flyers, but head coach Tony Vittorio and pitching coach Todd Linklater have a number of weapons including Chris Beesley, Mike Hauschild and Eric Wagner. Beesley made 17 appearances last season and had six strikeouts in six innings against Cleveland State. UD won in eight of 11 of Hauschild’s starts last year. Wagner had a 6-1 record and the second-lowest ERA on the team at 3.99.
The Demon Deacons are expected to throw Niko Spezial, a left-handed pitcher against Dayton’s Sunday starter. Spezial is also a freshman, and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2009 MLB Draft. He was 15-1 in his high school career, while posting a 1.24 ERA.
Opening pitch on the season starts at Noon on Friday, and continues with a Noon start against Wake Forest on Saturday and a 1:00 p.m. first pitch on Sunday. All of the weekend’s games will be played at Gene Hooks Field at Wake Forest Baseball Park in Winston-Salem, N.C., and will be broadcast on 1660 Information Radio. Saturday’s broadcast will be tape delayed due to the women’s basketball game at UD Arena.
