DAYTON - The University of Dayton softball team will open its 2018 season Friday at Charlotte's First Pitch Classic. Due to impending inclement weather in Charlotte, game times for Friday's contests have been moved up one hour. Dayton will square off against Radford at 10 a.m. followed by a 12:30 p.m. tilt against Charlotte.

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About Dayton
Dayton opens 2018 at Charlotte's First Pitch Classic Friday with games against Radford and the host 49ers. UD closed out 2017 with an overall record of 29-27 and a 13-10 mark in Atlantic 10 Conference play. The Flyers made their fifth-consecutive appearance in the A-10 Championship in 2017 and return A-10 First Team honoree Kyle Davidson and A-10 Second Teamer (and 2016 A-10 Pitcher of the Year) Manda Cash to lead UD in 2018. Head coach Cara LaPlaca is in her 11th season at Dayton.

Scouting Radford
Radford (4-0) is coming off a perfect 4-0 weekend at the Eagle Round Robin hosted by Georgia Southern. The Highlanders picked up wins over Austin Peay and Murray State and two Ws over ETSU under first-year head coach Hope Creasy. In the circle, Radford's Abby Morrow worked 18.0 innings and posted a 0.50 ERA in three starts while Marissa Gagliano went 5-for-12 at the plate with two runs scored and two RBI.

Scouting Charlotte
Charlotte (2-1) opened 2018 with a doubleheader sweep at Elon on Feb. 9 followed by a 5-2 loss to South Carolina at home on Wednesday. The 49ers' Kiersten Berrier has gone 5-for-10 in three starts while Haley Wiseman (1-1) has put in the most work in the circle, tossing 14.0 innings with a 3.00 ERA and 19 strikeouts.

Series Stuff
Radford: Dayton leads, 2-1
These two squads played all three of their meetings in the 90s as Dayton picked up wins on March 13, 1992 (5-3) and April 5, 1997 (2-1). The second half of the March 13 doubleheader went to Radford, 5-4, on the Highlanders' home field.

Charlotte: Charlotte leads, 15-4
Former Atlantic 10 rivals, Dayton and Charlotte have not met since the 2013 season. The 49ers hold a commanding lead in the all-time series but the Flyers have won three straight and four of the last five meetings.

RPI Rankings
In the NCAA's final Rating Percentage Index
(RPI) for the 2017 season, Dayton came in at 174 according to NCAA.com. Radford was ranked 162 and Charlotte came in at 99.

Star in the Circle
Senior Manda Cash, the 2016 A-10 Pitcher of the Year, has already made her mark on the Dayton record book and continues to climb the rankings. She has tallied 554 career strikeouts which ranks second, behind only former Flyer Kayla English (2012-15) who holds the record with 564, and is on pace to break the record this weekend. Additionally, Cash's 4.33 strikeout-to-walk ratio is the all-time best career average and her career ERA of 1.93 ranks fourth all-time in program history.

So Offensive
Three returning everyday players account account for 35 percent of all hits recorded by the Flyers last season and all three carried a batting average above .300: senior Kailee Budicin (.365, 66 H), junior Kyle Davidson (.317, 52 H) and junior Lisa Tassi (.315, 39 H).

You Look Familiar
Senior infielder Kailee Budicin has played in 151 games with 148 starts as a Flyer. She is on pace to shoot up through the Dayton top 10 list for career games played this season with the possibility of setting a new program record. The current record holder, Natalie Mariano (2012-15) played in 203 career games. Budicin enters 2018 with a streak of 141 consecutive games started.

#Winning
Dayton head coach Cara LaPlaca tallied her 233rd career win at UD on April 15, 2017 at La Salle, surpassing former Flyer head coach Jodi Eickemeyer as Dayton's all-time winningest coach. She now has 239 wins at UD.