DAYTON – The University of Dayton baseball team opens up Atlantic 10 play this weekend, welcoming Richmond to Spectrum Stadium for a three game series beginning Friday, March 24 at 3 p.m.

The Flyers and Spiders are also scheduled to play Saturday, March 25 at 1 p.m. and Sunday, March 26 at 12 p.m.

ABOUT DAYTON
UD is 7-11 on the season and coming off a 3-1 victory over Bowling Green earlier in the week. The Flyers' starting pitching has continued to improve with each passing series, lowering its earned run average by over three points since opening up at Spectrum Stadium. 

In fact, the Flyers have posted a home ERA of 2.45 in its six games in the friendly confines, including 21 innings of shutout ball from the combination of Tyler Henry, Josh Nixon, Peter Rozman, Masashi Sakamoto, and Jason Johnson. Dayton is also holding batters to a .246 batting average and has struck out over twice as many as it has walked (51 strikeouts, 25 walks).

The Flyers' hitters rebounded nicely against BGSU on Tuesday, getting six hits and walking an additional six times to consistently threaten against the Falcons. UD increased its base running aggressiveness in 2017, having already stolen 34 bases, matching last season's total through only 18 games. Leading the way for the Flyers are seniors Nick Ryan (9-for-11) and Robbie Doring (8-for-10). 

ABOUT RICHMOND
Richmond comes to the Gem City having lost four games in a row and touting a 7-13 record. The Spiders have faced some tough competition on the season, falling to No. 11 Coastal Carolina in the 2017 opener, and also losing to St. John's and Texas, who were both receiving votes at the time they played.

The Spiders have gotten strong performances from a trio of upperclassmen, with junior Vinny Capra leading the team in average at .351. Fellow Junior Daniel Brumbaugh has been an extra-base hit machine, smacking eight doubles, four triples and two home runs, while also driving in 15 runs and scoring 20 of his own. All of those numbers lead the team. Graduate student Jonathan de Marte has started and played in all 20 games for the Spiders and has a batting average of .342.

Pitching has been the Achilles' heel for the Spiders, turning in an ERA of 6.30 on the season. Sophomore Layne Looney has been the top starter for Richmond, throwing 21 innings in six starts and turning in a 3.86 earned run average. Redshirt junior Robbie Baker has a 1-2 record, but has some strong numbers on the hill, including 30 strikeouts to only six walks. Opponents are hitting .280 against Richmond on the season, and the Spiders' pitching has surrendered 20 home runs.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST
This weekends' weather calls for sunny and warm weather on Friday, with temperatures in the low 70's. Unfortunately the forecast calls for a strong chance of showers on Saturday afternoon and into Sunday.