DAYTON, Ohio - The University of Dayton softball team returns home to the UD Softball Stadium after a midweek series at Saint Louis to face Rhode Island in the second week of Atlantic 10 Conference play.  The three game series gets underway Saturday, March 28 at 3 p.m. and concludes Sunday with a doubleheader starting at 10 a.m.

Recent Action
The Flyers have an 19-10 record and are coming off a three-game series sweep of St. Bonaventure last weekend at UD Softball Stadium and a doubleheader split with Saint Louis Wednesday. The Flyers won both games of the Saturday doubleheader (3-1, 8-3) and prevailed in the Sunday finale, 8-0 in five innings. The Flyers topped SLU 6-2 in the opening game and fell 5-0 in the nightcap.
Rhode Island enters the game with a 1-15 record overall. The Rams have lost their last three games and have not played a home game yet this season.

Series Stuff
Dayton leads the all-time series 21-18-1.  The Flyers split with the Rams in the conference opener a season ago, posting a 9-5 victory and a 4-2 loss in March of 2014.
 
Scouting Report
As a team, the Rams are hitting for a .223 average while allowing their opponents to a .418 mark. URI is led by Jenna Cubello, who is hitting for a .325 average with 10 runs scored, three doubles and two triples. Kylie Shivery leads the team with 11 RBIs.
The pitching staff has a combined ERA of 9.00 with 31 strikeouts and 62 walks in 91 innings of work. Caitlin Kennedy leads the staff with a 7.04 ERA and one win. Andrea Chiaradio leads the team in strikeouts with 17. 

Just Win Baby
With a victory this weekend, head coach Cara LaPlaca will have reached the 20-win milestone for her sixth time at UD, and her fifth season in a row.  LaPlaca is also looking to break her record for most wins in a season at UD with 27 (2014).  The overall record for most wins in a season is 35 (2000).

Weather Report
Saturday - The high is estimated to be 35 degrees with a zero percent chance of precipitation.
Sunday - The high is 49 degrees with expected afternoon showers

Sweeps on Sweeps
After sweeping two series from Eastern Kentucky and St. Bonaventure, the Flyers swept the weekly awards in the Atlantic 10 for games played March 16-22.  Senior Tiffany Ricks earned the Player of the Week award after hitting .643 and slugging 1.214 with 17 total bases.  Kayla English picked up her second Pitcher of the Week award after striking out 17 and going 3-0 in 16 innings of work in four appearances, posting a 0.44 ERA. Manda Cash also picked up her second Rookie of the Week honors after she allowed no runs and struck out 13 in 8.0 innings and four appearances for a 0.00 ERA.  In addition UD senior left fielder Natalie Mariano was named the College Sports Madness A-10 Player of the Week.

Easter Egg Hunt
A special promotion for fans who come out to the games Sunday, there will be an Easter egg hunt in-between games.  Also for all Sunday games this season kids will get the chance to run the bases after the games have ended.  As always admission is free for all games played at the UD Softball Stadium.