Dayton Game Notes

DAYTON, Ohio - The University of Dayton softball team is heading north on Interstate 75 Wednesday for a mid-week, non-conference doubleheader at Toledo. First pitch between the Rockets and Flyers is set for 3 p.m. at Scott Park.

ABOUT THE FLYERS
Dayton (14-21) dropped two games at Massachusetts Saturday to wrap up a 2-4 week for the Flyers. Senior Alysha Isaacson was named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Week for the second-consecutive week for her play over those six contests. As a team, UD leads the A-10 with a .293 batting average and a .449 slugging percentage. The Flyers are also tops in runs (167), hits (287), RBI (146), doubles (52), home runs (33), total bases (440), innings pitched (235.1) and batters struck out looking (57).

Isaacson leads the team with a .444 average at the plate and would lead the league but she doesn't meet minimum hitting requirements. Junior Tiffany Ricks has tallied a team-best 45 hits (1st A-10) while also leading the team with 10 doubles, seven home runs, 26 RBI and 76 total bases. Senior Kasi Vazquez has also knocked out seven home runs and has taken a team-leading 22 bases on balls. In the circle, freshman Gabrielle Snyder holds the team's low ERA at 4.18 while senior Kayla English has recorded a team-best 85 strikeouts.

SCOUTING TOLEDO
Toledo (13-22) went 2-2 this past weekend after splitting both of its two-game series at Miami (Ohio) and Ball State. As a team, the Rockets are hitting at .291 with six everyday players batting above .300 as Jessica Lemieux leads the squad with her .410 average. Emily Anderson is the team's ace with a 2.63 ERA and 151 strikeouts on the season. She holds a 12-11 record in the circle for the Rockets.

SERIES STUFF
Toledo holds the 12-5 advantage in the all-time series between the two squads. The Flyers and Rockets last met on April 3, 2013, splitting a doubleheader with Dayton winning the first game, 9-1, and Toledo picking up the second game, 10-5, at UD Softball Stadium.

LAST TIME OUT
The Flyers traveled to Amherst, Mass., this past weekend for an Atlantic 10 doubleheader at Massachusetts, dropping both games to the Minutewomen 9-4 and 5-2. Senior Alysha Isaacson continued to shine offensively with a 5-for-7 day at the plate with a double, a home run and two RBI. Isaacson was one of three Flyers with long balls on the day as senior Jordan Jennings and junior Tiffany Ricks each knocked one out of the park as well.

SIX FLYERS ABOVE .300
Six players for the Flyers are currently hitting above the .300 mark, including senior Alysha Isaacson who is topping out at .444 (which would lead the A-10 but she does not meet the minimum hitting requirements). Senior Rachel Archer is closing in on .400 with her .383 average and junior Tiffany Ricks is right behind her at .375. Senior Jordan Jennings holds a .309 average at the plate while freshman Gabrielle Snyder bats at .308. Junior Natalie Mariano is the sixth Flyer above .300 at .306.

LEAGUE LEADERS
Several Flyers rank among the top five in the Atlantic 10 Conference in several categories, including junior Tiffany Ricks who leads the league with 45 hits, 76 total bases and 120 at bats while ranking second in runs (27) and doubles (10). Senior Rachel Archer is second in the A-10 with 44 hits and 115 at bats and she ranks fourth with a .383 batting average. Senior Kasi Vazquez ranks second in walks (22) and is tied with Ricks in third place with seven home runs on the year. Junior Kayla English holds the league's third-lowest opposing batting average (.245), has tallied the third-most strikeouts (85) and also ranks third with 101.2 innings pitched.

OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
Senior Alysha Isaacson has recorded multiple hits in eight of the last 11 games she has played in, returning to the field at first base on April 1 after recovering from an injury. During that 11-game stretch, Isaacson has gone 22-for-37 at the plate for a .595 average, has batted eight doubles and two home runs, knocked in 14 RBI and scored nine runs.

I'M GETTING ON
Senior Rachel Archer has safely reached base in 14 consecutive games this season, the squad's longest streak of the year. Her team-best hitting streak of 12 games was snapped this past weekend after failing to record a hit at UMass but she did get on base in both games against the Minutewomen.

ISAACSON A-10 PLAYER OF THE WEEK, AGAIN
Isaacson, a senior from Chula Vista, Calif., earned her second consecutive A-10 weekly honor after batting 12-for-21 (.571) this past week with two home runs, seven RBI and six runs scored to lead the Flyers. Isaacson recorded five multi-hit games for the week along with totaling six extra base hits. For the week, she posted an on-base percentage of .609 and a slugging percentage of 1.048.

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.

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.