WEEKEND PREVIEW• The University of Dayton baseball team will head into the second week of the season still looking for its first win after facing a tough field at the Spartanburg Classic last weekend. Dayton will take on Furman in a three-game series, starting Friday at 4 p.m. at Latham Baseball Stadium in Greenville, S.C. The weekend continues with a 1 p.m. contest Saturday and ends with the finale on Sunday at 1 p.m.
• The Flyers are 0-3 on the season and 0-1 in away contests after playing a pair of neutral games in Spartanburg. Head coach
Tony Vittorio is in his 17th year at the helm and has numerous new players at his disposal after replacing seven senior starters from last year.
• Furman is 1-2 overall this season with an 11-inning win over Presbyterian in its last outing. The Paladins also dropped a 15-8 decision to Michigan State and 5-2 decision to Fordham in the opening weekend. Head coach Ron Smith has over 550 wins on his resume and is looking to get Furman back to the postseason.
WHO TO WATCH - DAYTON• Offensively, Dayton is batting .214 this season through three games with eight extra-base hits, three steals in as many attempts, and a .330 slugging percentage.
• Leading the way for the Flyers is junior
Nick Gobert, who has a pair of home runs, junior
Glenn Jones, who has five hits and two RBI, and junior
Matt Poland, who has two runs, two doubles, and two RBI.
• The starting rotation for Dayton this weekend will be senior
Sam Brunner (1 start, 13.50 ERA, 4 k's) on Friday, sophomore lefty
Mason Kutruff (0-0, 18.00 ERA) on Saturday, and senior
Zach Beaver (5.40 ERA, 5 IP, 2 k's) on Sunday.
• As a pitching staff, Dayton has a team ERA of 12.00 with 16 strikeouts in 24 innings of work.
• Defensively, the Flyers have been perfect with a 1.000 fielding percentage in 101 chances. UD has turned five double plays as well, while only hitting into one.
WHO TO WATCH - THE OPPONENTS• Furman has combined for a .283 average and nine extra-base hits and one stolen base in three games.
• The Paladins are led offensively by senior Jordan Simpson's four RBI, home run, and .385 average, while freshman Jake Crawford is batting .571 with three RBI and two runs scored.
• As a pitching staff, Furman has a team ERA of 7.14 with 32 strikeouts compared to 15 walks in 29 innings of work.
• Sophomore Will Gaddis (1 start, 0.00 ERA, 8 k's/0 BBs), senior Ryan Griffith (1 start, 27.00 ERA, 1 k's), and junior Matthew Quarles (9.00 ERA, 7 k's) are projected to make the starts for the Paladins this weekend.
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST – GREENVILLE, S.C.
Friday – Sunny, High of 56 degrees, low of 28 degrees. 0% chance of rain, Wind at 8 mph
Saturday – Sunny, High of 56 degrees, low of 32 degrees. 0% chance of rain, Wind at 8 mph
Sunday – Sunny, High of 66 degrees, low of 40 degrees. 0% chance of rain, Wind at 10 mph
LAST MEETINGDayton and Furman have met 16 times previously with the Flyers winning eight times compared to the Paladins' six victories. The last meeting took place on May 17 in Greenville, S.C. with Furman coming out on top 5-2.
LAST OUTINGThe Flyers suffered a 15-2 loss to No. 29 Kentucky in their last outing Sunday in South Carolina. The Wilcats had seven home runs in the seventh and eighth innings.
Nick Gobert added a home run for the Flyers.
STATISTICAL RANKINGSDayton ranks seventh in the Atlantic 10 in batting average and 10th in team ERA. The Flyers lead the league and country in fielding percentage without committing an error.
Individually,
Nick Gobert leads the A-10 in home runs (2) and ranks third in slugging percentage (1.000) while
Robbie Doring and
Matt Poland are tied for second in doubles (2).
HONORARY FLYER CAMERON NEALDuring the 2013 season, the Dayton Baseball program announced the addition of
Cameron Neal to its family. Cameron was a local boy that battled a brain tumor. He was partnered up with the Flyers through the Friends of Jaclyn foundation. What started out as a young boy meeting with a few players has blossomed into a tight-knit relationship that not only benefitted Cameron, but the players
as well. With his own locker and uniform, Cameron was seen at as many of the games as he could attend. He was not part of just a community service project, but truly a member of the Dayton Baseball team. Cameron lost his battle this past fall and is the inspiration behind the #Cam10 hashtag that the team is using as its motto this season.
FLYERS ADD CYPRET TO STAFFThe Dayton Baseball coaching staff added
Ryan Cypret for the 2016 season. A native of Ohio and a graduate of Ohio State University, Cypret joined UD from Western Michigan, where he helped the Broncos post the second-highest fielding percentage in school history. While playing at OSU, Cypret was a two-time team captain and a three-year starter.
