WEEKEND PREVIEW• The University of Dayton baseball team will travel to nearby Muncie, Ind. for a four-game series at Ball State this weekend. The series opens Friday at 1:30 p.m. with a doubleheader. Saturday's single game time is TBA, with the finale scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday. This was a change from the originally announced schedule.
• The Flyers come into the series with a 3-11 record overall and a 1-6 road mark. Dayton has picked up all three wins in the last six games including wins over High Point, Miami, and Oakland. Head coach
Tony Vittorio is in his 17th season at the helm.
• Ball State is 8-9 overall this season, all coming on the road. This will be the home opener for the Cardinals as they have faced a loaded away schedule with the likes of Oregon State, Utah, Ole Miss, and LSU. Head coach Rich Maloney has 20 years of experience with 10 spent at Ball State.
WHO TO WATCH - DAYTON• The Flyers are batting .216 as a team with a .325 slugging percentage and a .289 on-base percentage. UD has nine stolen bases and 30 extra-base hits in 14 games.
• Leading the way for the Flyers is
Matt Poland, with a .292 average,
Robbie Doring, with five home runs and 12 RBI, and
Aaron Huesman, with a .261 average and six RBI.
• Dayton's pitching staff has combined for an ERA of 5.48 with 84 strikeouts and 51 walks in 118 1/3 innings of work.
• The starting rotation for UD will be
Charlie Dant (1-0, 4.09 ERA, 11 K's) on Friday,
Mason Kutruff (0-2, 9.58 ERA, 11 K's) and
Zach Beaver (0-3, 4.70 ERA, 18 K's) on Saturday, and
Sam Brunner (1-2, 6.43 ERA, 13 K's) on Sunday.
• The Flyers have had a strong season defensively, recording a .969 fielding percentage and 16 errors.
WHO TO WATCH - THE OPPONENT• Ball State offensively has a .268 average and 33 doubles to go with seven triples, seven home runs, and 16 steals.
• Leading the Cardinals is Caleb Stayton, who has totaled 21 RBI, 10 runs, and a .358 average. Sean Kennedy and Matt Eppers have chipped in nine RBI apiece as well.
• As a pitching staff, BSU has a 4.66 ERA to go with 123 strikeouts and 64 walks in 145 innings.
• The projected starting rotation for the Cardinals will be Kevin Marnon (2-2, 3.42 ERA, 16 K's) in game one Friday, Zach Plesac (0-1, 5.09 ERA, 18 K's) and Brendan Burns (2-1, 3.72 ERA, 19 K's) on Saturday, and Colin Brockhouse (1-2, 3.78 ERA, 12 K's) Sunday.
• Defensively, Ball State has a .964 fielding percentage with 22 errors and 10 double plays in 611 chances.
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST– MUNCIE, IND.
Friday – Mostly Sunnyy, High of 54 degrees, low of 34 degrees. 0% chance of rain, Wind at 13 mph
Saturday – Cloudy, High of 44 degrees, low of 27 degrees. 20% chance of rain, Wind at 9 mph
Sunday – Mostly Cloudy, High of 45 degrees, low of 30 degrees. 10% chance of rain, Wind at 13 mph
LAST MEETINGDayton and Ball State met three times in the 2015 Flyer Classic at Woerner Field with the Cardinals taking all three. On March 15, 2015, BSU took the series finale 15-4 with three separate innings of four runs each.
LAST OUTINGThe Flyers suffered a hard-fought 7-6 loss to Eastern Michigan at Athletes in Action in Xenia on Wednesday. Dayton led early and often, but a ninth-inning go-ahead run by the Eagles handed UD the loss.
The Cardinals dropped a 10-6 loss at LSU on Sunday in the final game of the series. The Tigers took the initial lead and added to it throughout, but a late surge by Ball State saw five runs between the sixth and seventh innings. BSU was unable to surmount LSU and fell despite matching with 14 hits.
DANT NAMED A-10 PITCHER OF WEEKFlyer pitcher
Charlie Dant was named Atlantic 10 Co-Pitcher of the Week on March 14 after pitching a complete game shutout against Oakland the previous weekend. The senior did not walk anyone or allow a run while striking out five.
UP NEXTThe Flyers will host Toledo on March 22 at 3 p.m. at Woerner Field.
