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GAME PREVIEW• The University of Dayton baseball team will open up Atlantic 10 play this weekend at home with a three-game series against Massachusetts. The weekend begins with a 3 p.m. contest against the Minutemen at Woerner Field Friday, followed by a 1 p.m. game on Saturday and the finale at 12 p.m. on Sunday.
• The Flyers are 6-12 on the season and 1-5 in home games split between Woerner Field and Athletes in Action in Xenia. Head Coach
Tony Vittorio has Dayton trending in the right direction after a 12-6 victory in the Flyers' last outing against Toledo on Wednesday.
• Massachusetts is looking for its first win of the 2015 season, going 0-5 to start the year. Head Coach Mike Stone is a veteran presence at UMass though and has over 600 wins in his experience. Most recently, the Minutemen dropped a pair of games against Harvard in Florida on Tuesday. All five games for UMass have been played either in Tampa Bay or Winter Haven, Fla. as well.
WHO TO WATCH - DAYTON• The Dayton offense is batting at a .232 clip with a .329 slugging percentage and a .331 on-base percentage. The Flyers have stolen 25 bases in 36 attempts and recorded 39 extra-base hits in 18 games.
• Leading the way for UD is senior
A.J. Ryan with 10 RBI and five doubles while senior
Alex Harris is batting .324 with 16 runs, nine RBI, and five doubles as well.
• Pitchers
Charlie Dant (1-3, 5.52 ERA, 27 k's),
Noah Buettgen (5.12 ERA, 14 k's), and
Bradley Horn (1-1, 23 k's) will get the nod as starters.
• As a pitching staff, Dayton has a 5.25 ERA with 145 strikeouts in 163 innings. Junior
Sam Brunner has all four saves for the Flyers.
• Defensively, Dayton has a .953 fielding percentage and 34 errors this season.
WHO TO WATCH - THE OPPONENT• Massachusetts offensively is batting .224 with five doubles, 12 RBI, and two steals through five games.
• Rob McLam has a .364 average and a .462 on-base percentage while Dylan Morris and Brett Evangelista are tied for the team lead in RBI.
• As a staff, UMass has a 7.25 ERA and 19 strikeouts compared to 16 walks. Five different pitchers have made a start in the five games in 2015.
• The Minutemen have a .930 fielding percentage and 12 errors in 171 chances.
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST – DAYTON, OHIOFriday - AM Rain, High of 54 degrees, low of 43 degrees. 80% chance of rain, Wind at 8 mph
Saturday - Mostly Sunny, High of 64 degrees, low of 38 degrees. 10% chance of rain, Wind at 15 mph.
Sunday - Mostly Sunny, High of 49 degrees, low of 32 degrees. 0% chance of rain, Wind at 12 mph.
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AST MEETINGDayton and UMass played a three-game series in 2014 and the Flyers took two of three from the Minutemen. UD took game one (6-5) and game two (6-2) before UMass prevented the sweep with a win in game three (5-4).
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