DAYTON – The University of Dayton baseball team will open a four-game series against Kent State Friday at 3 p.m. at Woerner Field. The Flyers will play one on Friday before returning for a home matchup on Saturday at 1 p.m. Dayton will finish the series with a doubleheader on Sunday at Kent State with the first game beginning at 1 p.m.
 
All four games will have live stats for fans to follow along at home, with Saturday's matchup featuring an audio stream and Sunday's doubleheader including a live stream.
 
SCOUTING THE FLYERS
Dayton scored the most runs in a game since Feb. 25, 2017 in its 20-13 victory on Wednesday night at Eastern Kentucky. UD improved its record to 5-14 in 2021 in the win. The Flyers hit six home runs in the contest, getting round trippers from graduate students Alex Brickman and Eddie Pursinger, seniors Mitchell Garrity, Michael Cleary, and Mariano Ricciardi, and junior Marcos Pujols. It also marked the second-straight game that Garrity and Brickman went deep.
 
Junior Benjamin Blackwell leads Dayton offensively, hitting .333 in 19 games this season, tallying four doubles and an on-base percentage of .443. Blackwell also leads the team with five stolen bases. Brickman leads the Flyers from a run-producing standpoint, knocking a team-leading five home runs and 13 RBIs. Pujols has also put in consistent work, ranking second on the team with 12 RBIs.
 
Senior Hunter Wolfe was named Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week for his effort against Central Michigan on Friday. The lefty went seven scoreless innings while picking up at least 10 strikeouts for the second consecutive start. He is tied for the conference lead with 37 strikeouts this season, putting his career total at 162 strikeouts, putting him 17 behind Charlie Dant for 10^th in program history. Senior Andrew Zapka has been a dominant force out of the Dayton bullpen as well, posting an ERA of 0.96 in 9.1 innings this season.
 
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN FLASHES
Kent State enters the weekend with a 7-8 record after losing three of four against Northern Illinois in the team's first conference series. The Golden Flashes took the series finale 8-4 on Sunday against the Huskies. Kent State entered the season predicted to finish second in the MAC, receiving one more first place vote than Central Michigan, who was picked to win the conference.
 
Offensively, Collin Mathews leads the team with a .378 batting average with three home runs and 11 RBIs through 15 games this season. Justin Miknis has also been a key contributor offensively, hitting .333 and tying for the team lead with 12 RBIs, while Michael Turner has hit a team-leading four home runs for Kent State.
 
Luke Albright has been the main force in the rotation for the Golden Flashes. In five starts this season, Albright has a 1.52 ERA and 35 strikeouts, ranking in the top five in both categories entering the week in the MAC. Ryan Lane and Max Rippl are the other two consistent starters for Kent State, with both making four starts to this point in the season.
 
MATCHUP HISTORY
Friday's game will mark the third time these two schools have played, with the two splitting other two games with each winning a home contest in 2019.