DAYTON, Ohio – The University of Dayton softball team wraps up the 2016 regular season with a three-game road trip at the University of Massachusetts, starting with a doubleheader at noon on Saturday, May 7.

The Flyers are the top spot in the Atlantic 10 standings going into the weekend, with a slim lead over Fordham. UD can clinch its second straight A-10 regular season title and the top seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament with two wins.

SERIES PREVIEW
The Flyers come into the matchup with a 26-16-1 record on the season and is in first place in the Atlantic 10 with a record of 14-2-1.

UMass has an overall record of 21-22 and lead the A-10 at 12-6. Head Coach Kristi Stefanoni is in her third season leading the Minutewomen.

WHO TO WATCH – DAYTON
Dayton has continued to thrive in the circle, with the Flyers turning in a 1.82 ERA as a team, tops in the Atlantic 10 and fifth in the country. Leading the way for UD is Gabrielle Snyder, who is eighth in the country with an ERA of 1.17, and sophomore Manda Cash, who is ninth with a 1.20 mark. Opponents are hitting just .196 off of Flyer pitching this season.

Cash has been on fire for the Flyers of late, turning in a 0.45 ERA with 84 strikeouts in 62.2 innings in her last 13 appearances. The sophomore from Columbus, Ohio has won four Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week awards in 2016, and most recently held the A-10's top offense in Fordham to just one run on three hits.

The Flyers come into the weekend hitting .238 as a team. They have two hitters over the .300 threshold in junior Gabrielle Snyder and senior Krista Gustafson, who are hitting .398 and .356 respectively. Gustafson has eight multi-hit performances in the last 13 games, going 20-for-41 (.489) at the plate with six doubles, two home runs and 13 RBIs.

WHO TO WATCH – UMASS
UMass enters the final weekend of regular season play second in the Atlantic 10 in hitting with a team average of .273. At the top of the pack for the Minutewomen is redshirt sophomore Jena Cozza, who has an average of .370 to go along with 10 home runs and 21 RBI. Freshman Erin Stacevicz and senior Taylor Carbone are right behind Cozza, with averages of .369 and .368 respectively, while Carbone also leads UMass in RBIs with 35.

The ace of the UMass staff is sophomore Meg Colleran. The North Attleboro, Mass. native has a record of 18-15 with a 2.22 ERA in 204.2 innings pitched. She's racked up 121 strikeouts and is holding opponents to a .236 batting average.

WEATHER
The weather in Amherst, Mass. is calling for rain late Friday night and then again on Sunday, leaving a large window of opportunity for play on Saturday.

SERIES INFORMATION
Dayton trails in the all-time series against UMass, going 7-33 against the Minutewomen in the history of the series.

UD swept the two games played with UMass last season, winning both games of the Senior Day doubleheader by scores of 1-0 and 6-0. 

Current Flyers Manda Cash, Kailee Budicin and Gabrielle Snyder had strong series for Dayton, with Cash picking up two wins and not allowing a run in eight innings of work, while Budicin added two hits and two RBIs and Snyder had two hits, a double, run scored, RBI and two walks.

Former UD slugger Jordan Jennings hit a walk-off home run to give the Flyers the victory in Game One.

UP NEXT
Dayton heads to Washington D.C. for the Atlantic 10 Championship, with the first games slated to start on Wednesday, May 11. The full schedule will be announced next week.