Dayton Game Notes

DAYTON, Ohio - The University of Dayton softball team is set to host back-to-back midweek doubleheaders Tuesday and Wednesday at UD Softball Stadium. The Flyers will welcome the Detroit Titans Tuesday at 3 p.m. and the Saint Louis Billikens Wednesday at 2 p.m.

ABOUT THE FLYERS
Dayton (12-17) went 2-3 over the last week including a 9-0, no-hit win at Wright State on Thursday. UD dropped two to the visiting IUPUI Jaguars on Wednesday and split its Atlantic 10 series against La Salle on Sunday. The Flyers currently lead the A-10 with a .287 team batting average and a .427 slugging percentage while ranking second among league teams in doubles/game (1.34), home runs/game (0.83) and scoring (4.55).

Senior Rachel Archer leads the team with a .394 average and 39 hits while senior Kasi Vazquez has knocked out a team-best six home runs and has drawn a team-leading 18 walks. Freshman Gabrielle Snyder is tied for the team's low ERA at 3.88 while doing double duty at the plate, one of five Flyers batting above .300 at .308. Junior Kayla English also holds a 3.88 ERA and has collected a team-best eight wins on the season and has tallied 65 strikeouts.

SCOUTING DETROIT
Detroit (2-18) almost pulled one out against a Big Ten opponent, but Wisconsin's seventh-inning rally spoiled the Titans' upset bid as the Badgers took both games of a doubleheader in Chicago on Thursday (March 20). For the Titans, it was their first action since March 8 at New Mexico as the red, white and blue saw its series with Morehead State cancelled and its Horizon League action against Green Bay postponed.

SCOUTING SAINT LOUIS
Saint Louis (16-13, 3-1 A-10) split both of its doubleheaders over the past week and have played eight straight games at home heading into Wednesday's games at UD Softball Stadium. The Billikens swept the Massachusetts' Minutewomen and split with Rhode Island to get to their 3-1 league mark. SLU's Lindsay Friedman leads the team with a .337 average while knocking out a team-best eight home runs and collecting 21 RBI.

SERIES STUFF
Detroit leads, 22-5. Last meeting: 2012
Saint Louis leads, 14-5. Last meeting: 2013

LAST TIME OUT
The Flyers split its Atlantic 10 home opening doubleheader against La Salle on Sunday, winning the first game, 4-1, and dropping the nightcap, 6-5. Senior right-hander Kayla English tossed a complete game and recorded a career-high-tying 11 strikeouts in the first game of the day to pick up the win. Senior Alysha Isaacson went 4-for-6 at the plate on the day including two doubles and six RBI.

FIVE HITTERS ABOVE .300
Five players for the Flyers are currently hitting above the .300 mark with senior Rachel Archer leading the way at .394. Senior Alysha Isaacson is batting at .392 while junior Tiffany Ricks is swinging at .374. Senior Jordan Jennings holds a .322 average heading into this week's games while freshman Gabrielle Snyder is sitting at .308 on the season.

ALMOST PERFECT
Junior Kayla English recorded her first career no-hitter on March 27 in a 9-0 win at Wright State. She allowed only one base-runner, a walk late in the game, as she faced only 19 batters over sixth innings pitched and recorded five strikeouts on the night.

LEAGUE LEADERS
Several Flyers rank among the top five in the Atlantic 10 Conference in several categories, including junior Natalie Mariano who ranks first in the league and 50th nationally in sacrifice hits per game (0.24) and is also the second-hardest player to strike out in the A-10 (22.8). Junior Tiffany Ricks ranks second in doubles/game (0.34) while senior Kasi Vazquez is third in walks (0.64). Senior Rachel Archer holds the fourth-best batting average in the conference at .394 while Vazquez ranks fourth with 0.21 home runs/game.

ISAACSON REWARDED AS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Alysha Isaacson, a senior from Chula Vista, Calif., made five starts as the designated player and batted 10-for-16 (.625) with three multi-hit games for the Flyers during the week of March 24-30. She went a combined three-for-six with three RBI in a doubleheader against IUPUI on Wednesday. Isaacson followed with a three-for-four performance against Wright State on Thursday in which she drove in and scored a run. Against La Salle, she was a perfect three-for-three in game one with an RBI and then one-for-three in game two with two RBI. For the week, she scored three runs and seven RBI with an on-base percentage of .647.

UD PICKED TO FINISH SIXTH IN A-10
Dayton softball has been chosen to finish sixth in Atlantic 10 play this season, according to the preseason poll conducted by the league's 10 head coaches. Dayton tallied a school-record 12 wins in league action in 2013 and made the program's fifth appearance in the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship - coach LaPlaca's second appearance in the post-season tournament in the last three seasons. She guided her team to a 22-24 overall record - the program's best winning percentage (.478) since 2005 - and a 12-9 mark in league action. The Flyers finished the 2013 regular season in sixth place in conference standings.