DAYTON – The University of Dayton baseball team will return home this weekend for a series against Northern Kentucky. The Flyers will play the 2020 home opener on Friday at 3 p.m. at Woerner Field at DP&L Stadium.

The series will continue on Saturday and Sunday with both of those game scheduled for a 1 p.m. first pitch.

All three contests will include free live stats throughout the game and there will be a giveaway for schedule posters for fans in attendance.

SCOUTING THE FLYERS
After an 0-3 weekend in Tallahassee, the Flyers sit at 3-7 on the year and have dropped the last six contests. Dayton was outscored 22-13 over the series.

Jared Howell leads the Flyers with a .297 average among qualified athletes. Howell is also tied for the team lead with six walks to go with a .395 on base percentage. Riley Tirotta is the leader in runs batted in with nine and has two stolen bases as well.

Hunter Wolfe is scheduled to start Friday's contest and has been the most reliable starter this season for the Flyers. The first Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week recipient, Wolfe has posted a 3.31 earned run average and is averaging more than seven strikeouts in each start.

Jordan Cox and Andrew Zapka performed well out of the bullpen last weekend as well. Neither allowed a run and they combined for 7.1 innings of four-hit baseball to keep the Flyers close. The pair are two of seven Dayton arms to not allow a run in 2020.

SCOUTING THE NORSE
Northern Kentucky is still looking to get into the win column, dropping the first 13 games of the season. The Norse are coming off a 24-15 loss against Xavier on Wednesday. Jackson Haas went 4-5 with a home run on the contest, one of six for Northern Kentucky on the afternoon.

The program has played a tough schedule to open the year, highlighted by a loss to #20 Tennessee on Feb. 25.

The offense has been steady scoring 73 runs through the first 13 games. The Norse feature Griffin Doersching, the 2019 College Home Run Derby Champion. The junior is hitting .260 with 11 runs batted in so far this year. Leading the club offensively has been Jake Murray. Murray leads the team with a .340 average and 18 hits. The redshirt senior has seven runs batted in and five doubles.

The main issue for Northern Kentucky this season has been on the mound. The Norse have a team earned run average of 13.37. Jared Flueck has the lowest average on the team with an 8.15. He has started three games this season giving up 16 runs in 17.2 innings. Flueck also leads the team with 12 strikeouts in 2020.

The Norse were picked to finish fourth in the six-team Horizon League after finishing 15-42 in 2019, with 12 of those wins coming in conference play. Todd Asalon is in his 20^th season leading Northern Kentucky and has more than 530 wins to his name. Asalon led Northern Kentucky through the Dvision I transition in 2013.

MATCHUP HISTORY
The Flyers are 8-12 all-time against the Norse. The two last played against each other back in 2017, when Dayton defeated Northern Kentucky at home 10-3. R.J. Wagner started that game, going 4 innings and picking up the victory.