GAME PREVIEW• The University of Dayton baseball team will travel to Washington, D.C. this weekend to take on Atlantic 10 foe George Washington in a three-game series. The Flyers will open the weekend Friday at 12 p.m. before playing the Colonials at 1 p.m. Saturday and 12 p.m. Sunday.
• The Flyers are 9-21 overall, 2-7 in A-10 play, and 2-4 in road games. UD is coming off a tough series loss to VCU at home last weekend and a mid-week defeat at the hands of Butler. Dayton is back on the road for the first time since March 29.
• George Washington currently sits in second in the A-10 standings with a 6-2 record and is 18-10 overall in 2015. The Colonials are on a hot streak, winning 10 of their last 12 games, including a 12-1 win over No. 16 Maryland on Wednesday. GW is 12-4 at home this year as well.
WHO TO WATCH - DAYTON• Offensively, Dayton has a team average of .238 with 49 doubles, 35 stolen bases, and a .337 on-base percentage.
• Leading the way for UD is senior
Alex Harris, who is batting .301 with eight doubles and 14 RBI, and senior
A.J. Ryan, who is batting .270 with seven doubles, five home runs, and 20 RBI.
• Pitchers
Charlie Dant (1-6, 5.57 ERA, 43 k's),
Noah Buettgen (2-3, 4.10 ERA, 35 k's), and
Bradley Horn (1-2, 35 k's) will get the nod as starters.
• As a pitching staff, Dayton has a 5.19 ERA with 224 strikeouts compared to 141 walks in 272 innings. Freshman
Tyson Schnitkey leads the team with 17 appearances out of the bullpen.
• Defensively, the Flyers have a .956 fielding percentage and 53 errors in 30 contests.
WHO TO WATCH - THE OPPONENT• GW is batting .270 with a .354 slugging percentage and a .331 on-base percentage. The Colonials have stolen 47 bases and driven in 116 in 28 games this year.
• Sophomore Joey Bartosic is one of three Colonials batting over .300 with a .342 mark and 24 runs scored. Sophomore Bobby Campbell has driven in a team-high 18 RBI to go with a .317 average.
• The pitching staff for GW has had a strong season so far, recording a 3.51 ERA and striking out 179 batters compared to 93 walks. Sophomore Eddie Muhl is the top closer in the A-10 with 10 saves this season, twice as many as the second highest total.
• The Colonials defensively have a .977 fielding percentage with 24 errors in 28 games.
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST – WASHINGTON, D.C.
Friday – Thunderstorms, High of 84 degrees, low of 51 degrees. 90% chance of rain, Wind at 16 mph
Saturday – Partly Cloudy, High of 69 degrees, low of 44 degrees. 0% chance of rain, Wind at 6 mph.
Sunday – Sunny, High of 71 degrees, low of 48 degrees. 0% chance of rain, Wind at 6 mph.
LAST MEETINGDayton and GW met for a three-game series back in May of 2013 with the visiting Colonials taking all three games from the Flyers.
WITHIN THE CONFERENCEThe Flyers are ranked 13th in the A-10 in team batting average and 10th in team ERA. Individually, Harris and fellow senior
Sergio Plasencia rank sixth in the league in walks while freshman pitcher
Mason Kutruff is sixth in wins with four. Dant has also pitched the most innings in the A-10 this year and ranks eighth in strikeouts. Schnitkey leads the league in appearances as well.
The Colonials are ranked sixth in the A-10 in batting average and second in team ERA. They also lead the league in fielding percentage. On top of that, Bartosic is ninth in batting average and fourth in steals as an individual, while Muhl is first in saves and second in ERA.
BUETTGEN EARNS A-10 HONORSDayton senior pitcher
Noah Buettgen was named Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week on March 30 after his efforts in a 12-strikeout, eight-inning victory over La Salle on March 28. It was the most strikeouts in the league this year and a career-high for Buettgen.
MARATHON GAMEDayton and Morehead State started the first game of their series on Feb. 21 at 3 p.m. By the time the game was complete, it was 7 p.m. the next day. The contest was suspended in the middle of the fifth inning and was scheduled to begin the next day at 3 p.m. On top of that, the contest went 14 innings before a winner was decided. Besides the 18-hour delay, the game took four hours and 15 minutes to play, resulting in a 5-3 win for the Flyers.
FLYERS PICKED TO FINISH SIXTH IN A-10The Atlantic 10 released their 2015 preseason poll and tabbed Dayton to finish sixth this year, after posting that same finish in 2014. The Flyers received one first place vote, and came ahead of Davidson, George Washington, and Fordham in the poll. Saint Louis was picked to win the league and had six first-place votes, while VCU was right behind in second with five first-place votes.
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