DAYTON – The University of Dayton baseball will host the team's home opener this weekend against Oakland in a four-game series. The Flyers will open the series on Friday at 3 p.m. at Woerner Field at AES Ohio Stadium before returning for a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 12 p.m. and finishing the series on Sunday at noon.
 
All four games will include free live stats for fans to follow along.
 
SCOUTING THE FLYERS
The Flyers won for the first time last weekend against Campbell, taking one of three games in the series and sit at 1-5 on the season. UD fell on Friday before evening the series on Saturday after jumping out to an early 4-0 lead and getting 2.2 innings from senior Andrew Zapka to close out a 5-4 victory.
 
Senior Mariano Ricciardi leads the team with a .316 batting average. The second baseman has two extra-base hits so far this season to go along with a .519 on-base percentage. Senior Riley Tirotta leads the Flyers with three RBIs and two stolen bases as well. The third baseman has one of Dayton's two home runs in 2021.
 
Zapka leads the pitching staff with a 1.93 ERA among pitchers with at least four innings pitched this season while senior Cole Pletka leads the team with eight strikeouts.
 
SCOUTING THE GRIZZLIES
Oakland sits at 4-3 in 2021 after taking three of four games against Longwood University last weekend. The Grizzlies opened the season dropping two of three at Middle Tennessee State in the team's opening series. OU was picked sixth out of seven teams in the Horizon League after finishing the shortened 2020 season with a 2-10 record, but the Grizzlies are the only team in the conference currently sporting a winning record.
 
Offensively the Grizzlies are led by Josh Dudden, who has posted a .353 batting average while also getting on base 52 percent of the time after drawing six walks to this point in the season. Cam Post has been the main run-producer for Oakland, driving in eight of the team's 25 runs so far in 2021, hitting .333 with three extra-base hits.
 
The team has also been strong on the mound with the 10^th lowest ERA in Division I with a team earned run average of 1.98. Travis Densmore will get the ball on Friday, sporting a 1.04 ERA in two starts this season. Sunday's starter is the team's leader in strikeouts, Bryce Konitzer, who has 10 of them in 10 innings on the mound.
 
Probable Starters
Game 1 – Hunter Wolfe (0-2, 12.46 ERA) vs. Travis Densmore (1-1, 1.04 ERA)
Game 2 – Ben Olson (0-1, 7.11 ERA) vs. Andrew Hill (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Game 3 – Cole Pletka (0-1, 4.15 ERA) vs. TBA
Game 4 – Dylan Keller (0-0, 4.50 ERA) vs. Bryce Konitzer (1-0, 3.60 ERA)
 
Matchup History
Dayton holds the series lead against Oakland 6-5, with the two teams last squaring off in a double-header on March 12, 2016, which the two teams split.

Attendance Policy
Based on campus and local COVID-19 protocols and capacity restrictions, Dayton home athletic events will not be open to the general public.

Limited seating is available to guests of Dayton student-athletes (names must be on a pass list for admission). Currently, visiting team fans are not permitted in/at the facility.

Additionally, attendance at Dayton home athletic events will be socially distanced and fans are required to wear masks.

These protocols will be reviewed as the season progresses.