DAYTON – The University of Dayton baseball team will open a two-day four-game series with Xavier on Friday afternoon. The Flyers will play two games in Cincinnati on Friday before returning to Woerner Field for a doubleheader on Saturday. The doubleheader on Friday is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. and the Saturday doubleheader is scheduled for a 12 p.m. first pitch.
 
There will be live stats available for all four game as well as a livestream for the two games on Friday.
 
SCOUTING THE FLYERS
Dayton has won five of the last six contests, including an 18-7 victory over Akron on Tuesday at Woerner Field to put the team's record at 9-15. Senior Mitchell Garrity set the program record with his 49^th hit by pitch in the win. He was hit three times in the game and now is the only Flyer in program history to be hit by 50 or more pitches. Graduate student Chris Cabrera drove in four RBIs and junior Benjamin Blackwell hit two home runs in the first inning of the game, including the team's first inside-the-park home run of 2021. Senior Cole Pletka is also the reigning Atlantic 10 Co-Pitcher of the Week after his Sunday performance at Kent State. Pletka struck out 10 Golden Flashes and pitched a seven-inning shutout for UD.
 
Blackwell leads the team offensively, hitting .322 through the first 24 games this season. The junior also leads the team with six stolen bases and a .434 on base percentage. Junior Marcos Pujols has also been a key factor on offense, hitting .307 and sitting third on the team with 16 RBIs. Pujols also leads the team with an eight-game hitting streak dating back to March 20. Graduate student Alex Brickman leads the Flyers with six home runs and 18 RBIs, while graduate student Eddie Pursinger and senior Riley Tirotta have both each hit four home runs in 2021.
 
On the mound, senior Hunter Wolfe has been the ace of the rotation for Dayton to this point in 2021. He leads the team among starting pitchers with a 3.79 ERA, but has an ERA of 1.00 over his last four starts, allowing just three runs in 27 innings. The senior also leads the Atlantic 10 with 46 strikeouts, and the Dayton pitching staff leads the conference overall with 240 strikeouts through 24 games. He also sits just eight strikeouts behind Charlie Dant for 10^th in career strikeouts. Senior Andrew Zapka has been the force out of the bullpen, with a 0.96 ERA through 9.1 innings, while junior Bryce Hellgeth has 24 strikeouts in just 14.0 innings.
 
SCOUTING THE MUSKETEERS
Xavier enters the weekend with a 6-12 record with wins over Texas A&M and Cincinnati so far. Last weekend the Musketeers dropped three of four contests at Evansville, taking the Friday contest 6-1 before falling twice in a doubleheader on Saturday and in the series finale on Sunday. XU was picked to finish fifth in the Big East, behind Connecticut, Creighton, Seton Hall, and St. John's and ahead of Butler and Georgetown.
 
The Musketeers landed two members of the offense onto the Preseason All-Conference Team. Natale Monastra and Jack Housinger were both picked offensively to represent their positions. The pair sit at two and three on the team in batting average and Monastra leads the team with 10 RBIs, while Housinger leads the program and is tied for fourth in the Big East with five stolen bases. Alex Helmin leads Xavier with a .267 batting average, while Luke Franzoni has hit three home runs to pace XU, and is also tied for third in the conference in big flies.
 
Nick Zwack was the team's preseason all-conference selection on the mound. Zwack was one of five selections in the conference and is scheduled to take the mound in the second game on Friday. Trevor Olson leads the rotation and sits second in the Big East with a 1.73 ERA through three starts this season, and Lane Flamm sits behind with a 2.25 ERA in 2021. Olson will go in the first game on Friday, and leads the team and the conference with a .154 batting average against and Flamm will be the first starter on Saturday for Xavier. Flamm has the only complete game for the Musketeers this season. Jonathan Kelly and Trey Schramm are tied for the team lead with two saves each for XU this season.
 
PROBABLE STARTERS
Game One: Hunter Wolfe (2-2, 3.79 ERA) vs. Trevor Olson (2-0, 1.73 ERA)
Game Two: Dylan Keller (0-2, 6.75 ERA) vs. Nick Zwack (1-2, 5.55 ERA)
Game Three: Ben Olson (0-5, 6.38 ERA) vs. Lane Flamm (0-2, 2.25 ERA)
Game Four: Cole Pletka (1-2, 4.19 ERA) vs. TBD
 
MATCHUP HISTORY
This will mark the 30^th time these two teams have faced off, with Dayton currently 11-18 against Xavier. The two last met in 2015, with each playing a home game. Dayton won in Dayton on March 31, 2015 8-5 and the Musketeers took the game in Cincinnati on May 1 18-9.