NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Atlantic 10 Conference announced its end-of-season baseball awards on Wednesday afternoon and seven different Flyers earned eight different honors from the league.
 
Juniors Marcos Pujols and Benjamin Blackwell were named First Team All-Conference, Pujols and senior Riley Tirotta were named Second Team All-Conference, freshman Parker Bard was named to the All-Rookie Team, and graduate students Ben Olson and Tyler Jones and senior Mitchell Garrity were named to the All-Academic Team.
 
The all-conference teams were voted on by the league's head coaches and the Atlantic 10 All-Academic Team was voted on by the league's sports information directors.
 
Blackwell and Pujols were the first members of the First Team All-Conference Team since 2012, when Brian Blasik and Bobby Glover were All-Atlantic 10 First Team members.
 
Blackwell ranks third on the team with a .358 batting average in 2021. The shortstop started every games for the Flyers and hit six home runs for Dayton. He tied for the team lead with 12 doubles and ranked second with 10 stolen bases. Blackwell ranks fifth in the conference in batting average and on-base percentage, second in runs scored, fourth in hits this season. The junior was named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week on April 19.
 
Pujols was named to both the All-Conference First and Second Teams after a breakout performance in 2021. The junior was named to the first team as a designated hitter, and the second team as a first baseman. Pujols hit .366 for the Flyers this season, leading the team in average, which also ranked third in the conference. He started 46 of 47 games for Dayton. He ranked second on the team in home runs and RBIs and was named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week for the last weekend of the season. Pujols has a team-high 15 game hitting streak entering the postseason.
 
Tirotta led the team and ranked second in the Atlantic 10 with 14 home runs, a total that is fifth in program history for home runs in a single season. The third baseman also led the team in RBIs with 54, which is the ninth-most in a single season in program history. Tirotta led the team and ranked eighth in the conference with 12 stolen bases and he was named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week on April 5. It marks the second time Tirotta has been honored by the conference, as he was named to the All-Rookie Team his freshman year.
 
Bard is the lone representative for UD on the All-Rookie Team and has forged his way into Dayton's pitching staff with a 3-0 record in 2021. In his first career start against George Mason, Bard went six innings and struck out 10 to earn his first career victory. All three victories for Bard have come during conference play and his 29 strikeouts rank fifth on the Flyers.
 
Garrity is the first member of the All-Academic Team and does so after setting the program record in career hit by pitches. The senior has 61 in his career and 18 this season, which ranks second in the Atlantic 10 and is tied for the eighth-most in a season in program history.
 
Jones was named the male Presidential Scholar-Athlete at Dayton in 2020 and on the mound moved into second in program history in career apperances with 82 in his five years as a Flyer. The graduate student has made 15 appearances this season and has picked up a win, the eighth of his career at Dayton.
 
Olson is the final honoree this season for the Flyers and the third member of the All-Academic Team. The lefty has made 11 starts this season and has one complete game on the mound on April 17 against George Mason. Olson ranks second on the team with 50 strikeouts this season and leads the team with a 2.25 ERA against Atlantic 10 opponents.