DAYTON, Ohio – The University of Dayton softball team welcomes Fordham to the Gem City for its final home series of the 2016 season. The weekend's matchup is a head-to-head of the Atlantic 10's top two teams, with Saturday's double header set to start at noon.

SERIES PREVIEW
The Flyers come into the matchup with a 24-16-1 record on the season and sit in second place in the Atlantic 10 with a record of 12-2-1.

Fordham has an overall record of 32-16 and lead the A-10 at 15-2. Head Coach Bridget Orchard is in her 15th season leading the Rams.

WHO TO WATCH – DAYTON
Dayton's strength is found in the pitching circle, with the Flyers turning in a 1.86 ERA as a team, tops in the Atlantic 10 and seventh in the country. Leading the way for UD is Gabrielle Snyder, who is eighth in the country with an ERA of 1.11, and sophomore Manda Cash, who is ninth with a1.21 mark. Opponents are hitting just .198 off of Flyer pitching this season.

The Flyers come into the weekend hitting .235 as a team. They have two hitters over the .300 threshold in junior Gabrielle Snyder and senior Krista Gustafson, who are hitting .364 and .347 respectively. Gustafson has eight hits (four doubles and a home run) in her last five games

Cash earned her fourth Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week award and on April 18 thanks to her outstanding performances against Ohio State and La Salle. She finished the week with 18 innings pitched and allowed just one earned run, striking out 26 and walking only three.

WHO TO WATCH – FORDHAM
Fordham comes into the weekend as the Atlantic 10 leader in team batting average at .301, led by junior Lindsay Mayer, who has an average of .366. There are five other Rams with averages over the .300 mark, with sophomore Madison Shaw and junior Sydney Canessa each slugging nine home runs, while Shaw has driven in 34 runs and Canessa 42.

Junior Lauren Quense leads the Rams' pitching staff with 15 wins and a 3.31 ERA in 139.2 innings of work. Graduate student Rachel Gillen has 12 wins on the season and leads Fordham in strikeouts with 118.

WEATHER
The Dayton weather forecast for the weekend is grim, with chances of rain over 80% and temperatures predicted to be in the 60's.

SERIES INFORMATION
Dayton holds a slight edge over Fordham in the all-time series at 23-21.

UD took two of three from Fordham in the 2015 season on its way to the program's first ever A-10 Regular Season Championship.

UP NEXT
Dayton finishes up the regular season with a key road series against Atlantic 10 foe Massachusetts, starting with a double header on Sunday, May 7th.