Opening Day for the 2018 NCAA baseball season is this Friday and the Dayton is set to open up play with three games in South Carolina. The Flyers will begin their season with a game against USC Upstate at 4 p.m., followed by a Saturday neutral-site contest against Evansville at noon, before concluding the weekend with a game against Wofford, which will start at 1 p.m.
Here's a position-by-position breakdown of what to look for during the 2018 Dayton baseball season:

Pitching/Catchers
Junior Austin Cline, is one of the Dayton's three captains, and will serve as the Flyers de facto "Friday night starter," as the team's ace on the mound. Cline led Dayton in games started (14), wins (5) and strikeouts (55) during the 2017 season and will look to do so again this year. Sophomore Jordan Cox and senior Peter Rozman are the Flyers other probable starters this weekend and will move into the rotation after primarily coming out of the bullpen in 2018. Cox led the team with four saves in 2017 and Rozman set a program record with 29 appearances on the mound in relief last season. Behind the plate, the Flyers have junior Bailey Montoya, who started 24 games last season, as well as promising true freshman Brett Wells from Los Alamitos, Calif.

Infield
The Flyers have a lot of experience in the infield for the 2018 season, including 135 combined starts in 2017 from Brandon Smith, junior Pat Meehan and sophomore Brantley Johnson. Smith, who will primarily play first base and is another of Dayton's captains, hit 12 home runs in 2017, which ranks ninth all-time in Flyers history for a single season. Meehan is the team's top returning base stealer, with 13 stolen bases in 2017, and started more games for the Flyers than any other player a season ago with 47 starts, mostly at second base. Johnson, a shortstop, was just behind Meehan in terms of games started with 46 starting nods as a true freshman. The experienced infield will also be infused with some youth in the form of freshman Riley Tirotta. Tirotta, who is from South Bend, Ind., figures to see time at third base and was named the Atlantic 10 Freshman of the Year on Feb. 8 by Baseball America in the publication's season preview.

Outfield
The outfield will be anchored by captain Connor Echols. Echols, a junior from Sidney, Ohio, hit .261 last season in 48 games played and led the team in doubles (9) and ranked third in RBIs (23). Sophomore Tate Hagan from Tallahassee, Fla., who was just ahead of Echols in RBIs last season with 25, will also be a major contributor to the outfield. Among those will also look to see time in the outfield during 2018 includes sophomore Mitchell Garrity, who sat out last season after transferring from Purdue.
 
Weekend Games and Probable Starters
At USC Upstate (Feb. 16 at 4 p.m. in Spartanburg, S.C.)
National Weather Service Forecast: 76 degrees, cloudy, 15% chance of precepitation
Probable starters (2017 statistics):
Austin Cline (Dayton): 5-7, 5.82 ERA
Blake Whitney (USC Upstate): 5-6, 5.50 ERA
 
Vs. Evansville (Feb. 17 at 12 p.m. in Spartanburg, S.C.)
National Weather Service Forecast: 50 degrees, light rain, 70% chance of precepitation
Probable starters (2017 statistics):
Jordan Cox (Dayton): 0-3, 5.93 ERA
Alex Weingand (Evansville): 2-3, 5.35 ERA

At Wofford (Feb. 18 at 1 p.m. in Spartanburg, S.C.)
National Weather Service Forecast: 66 degrees, partly cloudy, 10% chance of precepitation
Probable starters (2017 statistics):
Peter Rozman (Dayton): 2-1, 5.56 ERA
Grant Byers (Wofford): 0-2, 9.00 ERA
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