DAYTON, Ohio - The University of Dayton baseball team will play its final home conference series of the season this weekend when it hosts George Washington University in a three-game set. The Flyers and Colonials start at 3 p.m. on Friday and at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The series will end with UD’s Senior Day at 12 p.m. Sunday at Time Warner Cable Stadium.

GAME PREVIEW
• The Flyers are 9-31-1 in 2013 and have a 3-15 Atlantic 10 record. At TWC Stadium, Dayton is 4-16, but coming off a pair of wins in its last two home games. In recent action, the Flyers were swept by St. Bonaventure in New York.
• George Washington heads into the weekend with a 17-29 record overall and a 7-8 conference mark. The Colonials 7-14 away from home this season and are coming off a seven-game break from A-10 competition. In its last conference action, GW took two of three contests from Fordham.

WHO TO WATCH
• The Dayton offense is batting .227 as a team and has 72 stolen bases on the year. The Flyers also have 65 extra-base hits and a .307 on-base percentage.
• Aaron Huesman leads the offense with a .312 average to go with 20 RBIs while Jared Broughton has a team-high 21 RBIs.
• Ian Hundley and Robby Sunderman lead the way  on the base paths with 20 and 15 steals respectively.
• The UD pitching staff has combined for a 5.59 ERA and 209 strikeouts in 355 2/3 innings this year.
• Noah Buettgen anchors the starting rotation with a 2.97 ERA and 47 k’s in 11 starts while Nick Weybright leads the bullpen with a 0.57 ERA and four saves.
• George Washington has a .241 batting average, a .311 slugging percentage, and a .321 on-base percentage.
• Justin Albright has a team-high .290 average and 23 runs while Owen Beightol has contributed 25 RBIs, two home runs, and 18 runs scored.
• GW has a team ERA of 4.43 and 262 strikeouts in 391 2/3 innings.
• The Colonials have a trio of strong starting pitchers in Max Kaplow (3.22 ERA, 2-4), Aaron Weisberg (3.38 ERA, 5 wins, 41 k’s), and Luke Staub (3.88 ERA, 11 starts, 40 k’s).
• In the closing role, Craig Lejeune has five saves, two wins, and a 3.71 ERA in 19 appearances.

NOTES
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST –
     DAYTON, OH
Friday - Cloudy, High of 75 degrees, low of 56 degrees.
10% chance of rain, Wind at 14 mph,  60% humidity.
Saturday - Cloudy, High of 71 degrees, low of 56 degrees.
20% chance of rain, Wind at 12 mph, 62% humidity.
Sunday - Showers, High of 65 degrees, low of 40 degrees.
40% chance of rain, Wind at 10 mph, 78% humidity.

VITTORIO JOINS 600 WIN CLUB
With a dramatic 5-4 win over Wofford on Friday, March 1, Coach Vittorio got the 600th win of his career. Already the winningest coach in Dayton history, Coach V has surpassed yet another milestone in his career.

CONTROLLING THE MOUND
Sophomore Noah Buettgen is seventh in the A-10 in ERA with a 2.97 mark, and has the most innings of anyone in the top 10. He is also 15th nationally in complete games with four.

ON THE NATIONAL SCENE
Senior Ian Hundley is currently ranked 43rd in the nation in steals with .49 per game, while the Flyers as a team are ranked 31st with 1.76 per game. Dayton finished No. 1 in the nation in that category last season. Hundley also ranks second in the A-10 in steals as well holds the single-game high, four, which he has done twice.

THROWN INTO THE FIRE
The Flyers have already played 16 new players this season. The newcomers have brought new life to the Dayton squad and have contributed in a number of ways already. Coach V has relied on three new starting pitchers, six new relievers, and eight new position players.

BLANKED BY BUETTGEN
Sophomore pitcher Noah Buettgen had a career performance on March 17 as the Liberty Township, Ohio native tossed a complete game shutout against the Oakland Grizzlies. With nine strikeouts, no walks, and just three hits allowed, Buettgen had the effort of the season.

GOING THE DISTANCE
Senior pitcher Parker Schrage went nine innings for the Flyers in their tough 3-2 loss to Bryant on March 9, but the Wisconsin native had the longest outing of his career.  After facing 31 batters, Schrage allowed just three hits while striking out five.

LIVING OFF THE LONG BALL
Junior Mark Podlas leads the team and is in the Top 10 in the Atlantic 10 in home runs with four this season, including two against IPFW on April 10.

COLBURN’S HEROICS
Redshirt freshman Kevin Colburn hit a pinch hit, walk-off double that drove in two runs to give Dayton a comeback victory over Miami University in the bottom of the ninth on April 23.

THE BRICK WAHL
Junior Joe Wahl had a breakout performance for the Flyers on April 21 by pitching eight innings, giving up just one run on two hits, and striking out five as Dayton ended a 12-game losing streak in a 4-1 win over VCU.

LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN
The Flyers have stolen seven bases in a game on two seperate occasions this year. Dayton first did it at UNC-Greensboro on Feb. 23, then repeated the feat on March 3 against Wofford.  They topped that total in their last game against Oakland by totaling eight in 10 attempts.

LEADERSHIP ON THE MOUND
Parker Schrage is looking to fill the void left by 2012 standouts Tim Bury, Mike Hauschild, and Burny Mitchem.  Together, those three former Flyers accounted for 21 of UD’s 31 wins and eight of the nine complete games.  Schrage, a senior righty, was 4-6 last season and started nine contests.  Fellow starters and Dayton newcomers Noah Buettgen and Joe Wahl have been given the opportunity to start for the Flyers this year as UD looks to keep the starting rotation as a strength of the team.

SETTING THE BAR
The Flyers broke their own single-season stolen base record in 2012 with 164 on the year. That total was the best in all of Division I.  Assistant Coach Matt Talarico is the coordinator of the offensive unit and will look to keep the Flyers moving on the base paths this season. He has implemented the base-running philosophy at Dayton that many programs around the nation are looking to for a blueprint.

DEFENDING THE 2012 TITLE
Dayton has a target on its back in 2013 after taking a share of the regular season A-10 title and winning the A-10 Tournament Championship outright in 2012.  Despite battling through a difficult non-conference schedule, the Flyers went 17-7 in the A-10 last year and will strive to better that record in 2013.

YOUTH MOVEMENT
Coach Vittorio has 21 newcomers to break in during the 2013 campaign after replacing seven starters from last year’s squad.  The team is broken down by five seniors, 11 juniors, five sophomores, and 12 freshmen. That also includes a number of transfers and first year players.